Public officers in the Molepolole Constituency
have been warned that poor service delivery which impedes
government social programmes is not acceptable. Addressing
a series of kgotla meetings in his constituency, Molepolole
MP Daniel Kwelagobe said public officers should ensure that
government policies and programmes intended to assist people
are implemented without fail. Kwelagobe warned that he would
not entertain a situation where government policies and programmes
are failed by public servants. His comments followed Molepolole
residents' complaints that government programmes were not
being implemented in the constituency. They complained that
civil servants were not serving them effectively, adding that
some spend more time on telephones discussing personal matters
than serving the people. They also complained that Village
Development Committee members and home-based care programme
volunteers were paid their monthly allowances late. They said
sometimes they go for up to three months without pay. They
argued that the situation was gradually eroding the spirit
of volunteerism and self-reliance.

Kwelagobe told the meeting that these
programmes had been introduced to assist people in their development
efforts. Kwelagobe, who is minister for presidential affairs
and public administration elaborated on government expenditure
on social programmes. He said the government has P111million
under the revised destitute policy, P177 million for orphan
programme, P120 million for new primary schools feeding programme,
P35 million for home-based care, P16 million for war veterans
and P154 million for old age pensioners. The minister explained
that these programmes were inline with Vision 2016's pillar
of a compassionate, just and caring nation. Kwelagobe also
advised residents to ask for assistance with his office in
Molepolole whenever they experienced difficulties in accessing
these programmes. Chief Social and Community Development Officer
Peter Ntseane said shortage of staff in the Kweneng District
Council contributed to the late payment of home-based care
volunteers. He also said the newly introduced computerised
payment system was delaying the process of payments because
of frequent power cuts, and in some instances officers were
not conversant with computers. Ntseane assured them that the
situation would improve in the long run.

From Republic of Botswana, Botswana, 29
April 2003

Government Lists Year's Reforms
Agenda

In an effort to push reforms, the government
has prepared a list of things to do in 2003-04. It includes
setting up an asset management company for handling divestments,
a divestment proceeds fund, a company law tribunal and a competition
commission. The repeal of SICA and the divestment of a number
of public sector units, including oil marketing companies,
are among the priorities. The list, drawn up by the Planning
Commission and various ministries and departments, includes
176 action points covering 62 departments. While the environment
and forests ministry has the longest list of ten things to
do this year, agriculture and co-operation has a list of seven.
This agenda, which was drawn up after the Prime Minister's
call for a focused reforms programme for the fiscal, will
now be forwarded to the Prime Ministers Office. The reforms
list, which the PMO wanted to include feedback from stockholders,
will be, in certain cases implemented on a pilot basis, followed
by a scaling up after incorporating changes as and when required.
While work on the priority agenda outline has been going on
for around four months now, the PMO had also issued guidelines
for formulating the agenda and implementation of the reform
proposal. These included using the recommendations of the
Govindarajan Committee Report on government regulations, identifying
areas for public-private partnerships and focusing on e-governance.
Ministries were asked to identify their underlying objectives
and to study them to see whether they were relevant, reasonable
and comprehensive from the perspective of creating a conducive,
fair and enabling sectoral environment.

Policies and programmes used to achieve
these objectives were then to be scrutinised to see whether
they achieved the objectives in an efficient manner, without
cumbersome procedures, restrictions, excessive bureaucracy
or direct role of the government. The PMO had asked the ministries
to list out the minimum set of regulatory concerns that needed
to be addressed to achieve the objectives and to devise non-intrusive,
minimalist and client friendly mechanisms to fulfil them.
The PMO, in fact asked them to refer to the Govindarajan Committee
Report to identify termination of unnecessary regulations.
It also directed them to identify means to identify areas
where conducive environment for private initiative could meet
laid down objectives and to identify public private partnership
approaches to provide better value for money and enhanced
quality of services to the people. In addition to the priority
agenda, ministries were also asked to draw up a detailed policy
reform proposal with feed back from stockholders, which was
to be implemented after necessary approvals. While the priority
agenda has been finalised, the detailed proposal is still
being worked on. The priorities: The list includes an asset
management company to handle selloffs, a divestment proceeds
fund, a company law tribunal, a competition commission. The
repeal of SICA and the disinvestment of a number of public
sector units, including oil marketing companies, are also
among the priorities. The agenda was drawn up after Prime
Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee called for focused reforms in
2003-04.

The Cabinet Committee on Disinvestment
(CCD) approved guidelines for management-employee bids in
strategic sale of public sector undertakings stating that
employee participation and protection of employee interests
was a key concern of the disinvestments process. As per the
guidelines, if the employee bid is not the highest one, they
shall be considered only if the bid is within the 10 per cent
range of the highest bid. In such an event, the employee bid
will have the first option for acquiring the shares under
offer provided they match the highest bid which is equal to
or more than the reserve price set by the Government. The
shares so acquired by the employees will have a lock-in period
of three years. If the employee bid is not the highest bid
and there are more than one employee bids within the 10 per
cent band, the highest of the employee bids will have precedence
for purchase at the highest bid. However, if such employee
bidder is unwilling or unable to match the highest bid, the
option will pass on to the next highest employee bid and so
on till all the employee bids within the 10 per cent band
are exhausted. In the event of no employee bidder within the
10 per cent band, being willing or able to match the highest
bid, the shares under offer will be sold to the highest bidding
entity. For the purpose of evaluating employee/management
bids, the term `employee' will include all permanent employees
of a PSU and the whole-time directors on its board. "
A bid submitted by employees or a body of employees will be
called an employee bid", a Disinvestment Ministry statement
said.

In order to be eligible for bidding,
at least 15 per cent of the total number of employees in a
PSU or 200 employees, whichever is lower, should participate
in the bid. The employee bids will be exempted from the minimum
turn-over criteria but will be required to qualify in terms
of the prescribed net worth criterion. The employees can either
bid directly and independently or, for the purpose of meeting
the financial criteria like net worth, can form a consortium
or bid through a joint venture or a special purpose vehicle
along with a bank, venture capitalist or a financial institution.
However, employees will not be permitted to form consortia
with other companies. If the bidding entity of the employees
is a consortium, JV or SPV, employees must have a controlling
stake and be in control of the bidding entity. And, if the
bid is submitted through a consortium, JV or SPV, the employees
must contribute at least 10 per cent of the financial bid.
If the employees form a consortium, the consortium partners
would be prohibited from submitting individual bids independently.
The employees bid will be required to follow the procedures
prescribed for participation by Interested Parties in the
process of strategic sale including, but not limited to, filing
expressions of interest along with all details as applicable
to other investors including furnishing of bank guarantee
for payment of the purchase price. The guidelines is expected
to be applied in the case of privatisation of Manganese Ore
(India) Limited (MOIL) where employees have evinced interest
to acquire the company from the Government.

From The Hindu Business Line, India, 17
April 2003

Why Good Government
Is Necessary

Governance - the way in which decisions
that affect the public interest are made -- has emerged as
a key factor in determining a country's pace of development.
Successful governance brings purposeful change. Failure is
punished by unrest, disaffection, and stagnation. Tomorrow,
a conference in Bangkok will dissect the prospects for improved
governance in Asia. Today's Asian policymakers confront a
very different environment from that faced by their predecessors
50 years ago. Asia's population has more than doubled since
1950, with most of that growth coming in its poorest countries.
The political systems of these countries were tailored to
small, static, rural populations. Now these societies must
cope not only with vast urban centers, but also with the very
different talents and demands of urbanized people. The global
economy has changed dramatically, too. Increased flows of
goods, money and knowledge around the world mean that foreign
organizations and individuals become more influential, making
it increasingly difficult for national governments manage
their countries by themselves. For example, international
bodies such as the WTO have changed the framework within which
economic decisions are taken. A "back to basics"
approach is vital in three inter-linked areas, in which national
governments must take the lead: minimizing corruption, enforcing
property rights and consistent application of the rule of
law. Few countries score strongly here.

Close links between business and governments
were blamed by many for the financial crisis that struck Southeast
Asia in 1997. In parts of South Asia, violent conflict and
the power of vested interests threaten the rule of law. The
result of such failures is that small elites benefit while
the majority suffers. A clear structure of formal rules is
the best antidote to these flaws, for they bolster the informal
customs on which so much in society depends. Most business
is not conducted in courts but in meetings where trust and
reputation are essential. As the social theorist Robert Putnam
has explained, "social capital" - the networks,
norms, and social trust that facilitate cooperation and coordination
for mutual benefit - is as much a determinant as it is a result
of economic growth. Empowering as many members citizens as
possible is likely to instill a widespread sense of purpose
into efforts to move countries forward. Government, the private
sector and civil society all have a role to play in strengthening
social capital. But successful interactions between these
sectors cannot be wished into existence and it is essential
that the role of each is clearly defined. But governments
retain a role in fostering an enabling environment within
which markets operate. Monitoring rules and enforcement are
important, but different ways of working - say, through public-private
partnerships - are also increasingly being considered in many
innovative Asian economies.

The valuable role of civil society
in giving voice to communities that governments cannot reach
is also recognized, but its relationship with government and
business is often characterized more by conflict than cooperation.
The private sector's role in decision-making, too, often needs
to be clarified - where businesses have too much influence
over government, their need to operate profitable may lead
to policies that favor the few over the many. The metaphor
of a game - with rules and participants - leads many to think
in terms of a competition between nations. This is not entirely
healthy, as our interdependent world is not a zero-sum game,
where one country's gain is another's loss. Indeed, countries
do not compete against each other in the way that firms do.
Trade is potentially a positive-sum game, with all countries
benefiting by exploiting their areas of comparative advantage.
Good governance can enhance this positive-sum game, and ensure
that companies and individuals within countries partake of
the benefits. In another sense, however, it is valuable to
think of governments as being in competition - providing a
more effective service to their people than other governments.

International comparison of systems
therefore plays an important role. In this spirit, this month's
joint conference with the UN Conference on Trade and Development
along with the UN Development Program - "Governance in
Asia: Underpinning Competitiveness in a Global Economy"
- will bring together policymakers from across Asia to discuss
the governance challenges that Asia faces. The role of government
- the only actor possessing the legitimacy of a popular mandate
- is fundamentally important in steering a society forward.
The private sector and civil society are, of course, increasingly
important partners for governments. How relationships among
these stakeholders function will powerfully influence Asia's
future development. David Bloom is professor of economics
and demography at Harvard University. David Steven is a policy/strategic
consultant who founded the UK-based knowledge consultancy
River Path Associates. Mark Weston researches and writes on
policy issues for a variety of organizations.

From Taipei Times, Taiwan, by David Bloom,
David Steven and Mark Weston, 17 April 2003

Karnataka, Maharashtra
top 'E-Readiness Index'

New Delhi - Karnataka, Maharashtra,
Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh have emerged as the front-runners
in the country in terms of e-preparedness composite index,
while Delhi is at the top based on network access. According
to 'India - E-Readiness Assessment Report 2003,' these four
states come in the category of 'Leaders' while in the category
of 'Least Achievers', states and UTs like Assam, Jharkhand,
Lakshadweep, Bihar, Jammu & Kashmir, Sikkim, Arunachal
Pradesh, Nagaland, Daman and Diu, Manipur and Dadra and Nagar
Haveli have been placed. The report has been prepared by the
Indian Market Research Bureau (IMRB) along with NCAER for
Information Technology department to see the progress of on-going
e-governance programmes of the Central and State Governments.
Gujarat, Goa, Delhi and Chandigarh have made it to the category
of 'Aspiring Leaders' while the report has put West Bengal,
Uttar Pradesh and Kerala as "Expectant" states.
Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and Pondicherry are the "Average
Achievers" while Haryana, Rajasthan, HP, Uttaranchal,
Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Mizoram, Tripura, Meghalaya, Andaman
& Nicobar Islands are the "Below Average Achievers,"
the E- readiness report says.

From The Hindu, India, 29 April 2003

Blair Stakes Future on Public Service
Reforms

Tony Blair prepared for a mass revolt
by Labour MPs and confrontation with the unions with a warning
yesterday that he would not be swayed from his "historic"
mission to reform the public services. He signalled that he
would use the personal and political momentum that he built
up during the Iraq war to force through policies that are
proving unpopular with the party and the unions, particularly
the introduction of foundation hospitals freed from some Whitehall
controls. He promised to take the 1945 Welfare State settlement
and "radically redraw it". Brushing aside the risk
of rebellions, he declared: "It is up to the unions.
They can either play a constructive part in this process or
not. Now is not the time for a quiet life." For several
weeks Mr. Blair and his ministers have held back the hospitals
legislation, fearing that Labour MPs upset about the war would
extend their rebellion to domestic policy. The Bill has been
changed to make it more acceptable to some Labour MPs, and
Mr. Blair and other ministers have been meeting backbenchers
to try to head off revolt. Even so, it is estimated that the
rebellion could be as high as 100. Mr. Blair's performance
at his monthly Downing Street press conference suggested that
he is ready to bite the bullet. The Bill's second reading
is expected within a fortnight. Mr. Blair will deliver the
same message face-to-face to Labour MPs at a meeting tomorrow
in the Commons.

The Prime Minister, looking fit after
a break last week at Chequers, mentioned health, education,
asylum and crime as the areas of greatest challenge for Labour
and the Government. "If we walk away and turn our back
on reform we will not just let the Labour party down, we will
let the country down. It will be a terrible mistake,"
he said. Mr. Blair said that it would be a mistake of "absolutely
fundamental historic importance" to back away. He compared
it to what he said was a similar failure by Labour in the
1970s, when the party came up with the idea of selling council
houses, only for the Conservatives to implement it when they
came to power. Mr. Blair voiced confidence that his September
target of halving asylum applications from their peak would
be met, but hinted that still tougher measures would be needed.
He insisted that foundation hospitals would be NHS hospitals
the same as any others. "But the difference is that we
are creating a new form of not-for-profit organisation, an
organisation that will be committed to serving the local community
with local stakeholders on the board and crucially giving
those local hospitals the freedoms they need to serve local
people in the way that they choose," Mr. Blair said.
"Our aim is that over time all hospitals will get the
chance to be run in this way." Kevin Curran, newly elected
leader of the GMB union, has warned of "huge fights"
against plans to increase private company involvement in public
services.

He said that it would lead to a "very
divided society". Labour rebels to defy hospitals BillMore
than 100 Labour rebels are preparing to defy Tony Blair when
the Bill to set up foundation hospitals makes its expected
return to the Commons next week. They intend to bring an amendment
showing their continued resistance despite signs that some
of the 124 Labour MPs who joined a Commons motion against
the plans have been won over by Alan Milburn, the Health Secretary.
The rebels believe that the plan to allow the best hospitals
to run themselves will set them in competition for staff against
the remaining hospitals. Mr. Milburn hoped to ease anxieties
by saying that he wanted all hospitals to qualify for foundation
status over the next five years. But one rebel said: "There
is extensive feeling that this is fundamentally wrong and
that it would undermine the NHS."

From The Times, UK, by Philip Webster, 29
April 2003

Lawmakers: Gov's Ads No Public Service

Trenton - After promising 16 months
ago not to appear in state-funded television commercials,
Gov. James E. McGreevey has spent $1 million on television
commercials promoting a book club. In the public service announcements,
McGreevey and wife Dina Matos-McGreevey exhort parents to
read to children. The ads feature images of adults flipping
through books with smiling youngsters. Major networks in the
New York and Philadelphia markets have all carried the ads,
which one industry insider said are paid and "not running
between midnight and 6 a.m." That is traditionally the
cheapest time to advertise on television. Assemblyman Robert
Smith, D-4, of Washington Township criticized McGreevey for
how the "Governor's Book Club" campaign is being
promoted. "While I do not question the importance of
reading to our children, I have grave concerns regarding the
amount of money being spent to finance Philadelphia and New
York television buys," said Smith. "Such spending
undermines the credibility of the position that New Jersey
is in dire financial straits - that we are desperately struggling
with a $5 billion deficit." Along with television, the
spots appear in print media and on radio. They will air through
June, according to state officials. They come as the state
is grappling with a $5 billion budget shortfall in the coming
year and low state aid to municipalities was a primary factor
in the defeat of up to 2 in 3 school budgets in some counties.

Statehouse observers from both political
parties have said legislators are growing weary of the ad
campaign. The exact cost of the spots, which have run in the
New York and Philadelphia media markets, could not be ascertained.
While administration figures stick close to the approximate
$1 million figure, one local radio station declined to give
out dollar amounts. Individual radio and television stations
often do not give out information on what they charged for
ads, lest they tip off competitors. McGreevey spokeswoman
Ellen Mellody defended the initiative. "The ability to
read is the foundation upon which the ability to learn and
all opportunity is based," Mellody said. "Research
has shown students are far more likely to fall behind in every
subject if they do not acquire the necessary reading skills
by the end of the third grade." Mellody said McGreevey
backpedalled on the pledge to not appear in state-funded commercials
at the behest of literacy experts. She said advisers told
McGreevey the literacy campaign would be strengthened if the
words came from McGreevey. Larry Litton, a professor of public
relations at Rowan University and author of the book "The
Public Relations Practitioners Playbook" due out July
15, said PSAs can meet a mixed fate. Those with controversial
topics can fail as opposed to those presenting such innocuous
topics as cancer research, he said.

Speaking about McGreevey's latest undertaking,
Litwin said there are two messages contained in the ads: the
surface-level literacy campaign and the deeper attempt by
McGreevey to mend his image after months of bad press. "It's
an image campaign. Spots like this are not in and of themselves
effective," Litwin said. "However, over the long
haul they become more and more effective." Research shows
the commercials can be more than 50 percent effective, Litwin
said. But that does not satisfy some legislators. Stung by
flat aid to municipalities and a slight increase to funding
for two-thirds of New Jersey's more than 600 school districts,
lawmakers criticized McGreevey for the spots. "Every
governor did it and this one has, too, but that doesn't make
it right," said Assemblyman George Geist, R-4, of Gloucester
Township. "Governors come and governors go but certain
Trenton traditions endure." William Lutz, an English
professor and media watcher at Rutgers University's Camden
campus, said the commercials are not true PSAs, which were
free in the past. "PSAs are a leftover of old (Federal
Telecommunications Commission) rules that a certain amount
of time had to be devoted to public service," Lutz said.
"I don't think anybody ever gave a damn whether they
worked or not."

From The Gloucester County Times, NJ, by
Terrence Dopp (tdopp@sjnewsco.com), 17 April 2003

A Cry for Full-Cycle
Governance - It's the Only Way to Assure Project Value

MIT's Peter Weill says that "an
effective IT governance structure is the single most important
predictor of getting value from IT," (from his paper
"Don't Just Lead, Govern: Implementing Effective IT Governance,"
coauthored with Richard Woodham). If that's true, how do we
explain the fact that many organizations have not set up governance
in a way that promotes value? This question was recently posed
to me by one of my clients. Even though she is responsible
for her company's current governance structure, she sees it
for what it really is: nothing more than a well-run project
approval process, with ROI calculations, business sponsor
testimonials and meetings attended by all the usual suspects.
At no time has the governing body revisited an approved project
in light of new information (also known as change requests),
terminated a project or assessed the company's track record
of value realization. Sound familiar? Let's be honest. At
many companies, governance should be called "govern-once."
Although there is broad agreement about what governance should
be-"the decision rights and accountability framework
to encourage the desirable behavior in the use of IT,"
as Weill puts it-in reality what passes for governance is
often a one-dimensional, checklist-and attendance-based effort
focused solely on project prioritization and approval. In
The Information Paradox, John Thorp writes about full-cycle
governance.

CIOs must ask themselves four "areas"
to reach this ideal state: 1. Are we doing the right things?
2. Are we doing them the right way? 3. Are we getting them
done well? 4. Are we getting the benefits? If you think about
these four questions, it's easy to see that many companies
focus their efforts on the first, but never address the other
three concerns. Since most competent IT executives understand
what governance should be, it is safe to assume that they
have good reasons for not pushing harder for full-cycle governance.
In my view, they don't believe the effort is justified. Without
question, it's hard work to implement full-cycle governance.
Many organizations have immature investment disciplines typified
by a "if we build it, the value will come" approach.
They will not devote the effort necessary to establish measurement
systems that will sustain a focus on projects for years after
they have been theoretically implemented. In addition, since
the majority of CEOs believe that CIOs should be held accountable
for realizing value from IT investments, it takes a lot of
rewiring to get the accountability shifted to where it needs
to be: the business leaders who own the three Ps of value
realization-people, processes and P&L. Finally, a lot
of IT types don't believe that value targeting and monitoring
is practical (for example, proponents of the "ROI is
dead" position). They don't want to promote a direction
that seems largely theoretical.

What's more, from a payoff perspective,
the link between full-cycle governance and CIO success is
hard to see. CIOs understand that as long as they ensure that
the right projects are selected and successfully delivered,
they will not only survive but thrive. The effort required
to achieve full-cycle governance is just too much for most
CIOs. As a result, they limit their project management to
"govern-once." These CIOs believe they can make
most any project succeed as long as they have enough business
sponsors, subject matter expertise and money. This belief
is wrong. Business sponsorship is a weak substitute for leadership.
Many CIOs don't understand that full-cycle governance is an
industrial-strength solution to the eternal problem of getting
the most value out of IT projects. Full-cycle governance significantly
improves project success because it transforms a business
project sponsor into a business project leader. Using a parenting
analogy, full-cycle governance forces business leaders to
raise the project as one of their own rather than send it
to the IT boarding school. The promises made by business leaders
on value, cost and time frames are monitored and affect future
decisions about who should receive IT capital, and who should
not.

This increased accountability motivates
business leaders to assign their top talent, establish baseline
measurement systems, manage risks, manage project scope and
see changes through. Full-cycle governance induces business
leaders to cascade project accountability throughout their
organization rather than leaving accountability to the CIO.
It's time for CIOs to reassess full-cycle governance. It can
be made practical by extending the definition of project value
beyond financial metrics to encompass operational metrics.
Put your CEO and CFO on notice that project value is not solely
the purview of the CIO. The "govern-once" mechanisms
in place at most companies are only a first step-a necessary
but not sufficient first step-in realizing value from IT-enabled
business investments. Susan H. Cramm, former CIO and vice
president of IT at Taco Bell and CFO and executive vice president
at Chevys, a Taco Bell subsidiary, is president of Valuedance,
an executive coaching firm based in San Clemente, Calif. She
can be reached at scramm@cox.net.

From CIO, 17 April 2003

Kibaki Upbeat on Corruption War

President Kibaki is optimistic his
government will win the fight against corruption. The country
was firmly focused on the future and the government would
strive to change the values and attitudes of Kenyans towards
corruption. The President acknowledged the task was daunting,
but said the government would provide the people with opportunities
to enable them to live without being corrupt. He conceded
there were no quick solutions to the fight but said the government
had the right team in place to change people's attitudes.
He spoke at State House, Nairobi, after holding talks with
the chairman of the board of Transparency International, Dr
Eigen Peter, who paid him a courtesy call. Dr Eigen pledged
his organisation's support for the five-year anti-corruption
campaign to be launched soon by the government. He said Kenya
was faced with a historic opportunity to have a clean break
from her dubious distinction of corruption. The official called
for a holistic anti-corruption strategy, noting that the country
was well placed to benefit from lessons of other countries
in the fight. Present was Justice and Constitutional Affairs
minister Kiraitu Murungi, permanent secretary for governance
and ethics John Githongo, and board members of Transparency
International, Kenyan chapter, led by chairman Joe Wanjui.

From Daily Nation, Kenya, 17 April 2003

Transparency Key to
Long-Term Stability, ICG

Johannesburg - UN Integrated Regional
Information Networks - Any further delay in implementing meaningful
political and economic reforms in Angola could undermine the
country's long-term stability, the International Crisis Group
(ICG) said on Tuesday. In its latest report, "Angola's
Choice: Reform or Regress", the international think-tank
warned that the government's failure to adequately address
serious economic disparities among the population could threaten
growth and spark localised violence. The report suggested
it was in the government's interest to "move down the
political reform path" by encouraging economic transparency,
especially in the oil sector, and fostering the increased
participation of civil society in its reconstruction efforts.
"Political and economic reform ... would ensure more
broad-based economic growth, allow a genuine private sector
to develop, free up hundreds of millions of dollars for social
investment through a more transparent budget process, transform
the political system into a more pluralistic one that promotes
human rights, and lay the groundwork for long-term stability."
The ICG argued that the upcoming presidential elections, expected
sometime between 2004 and 2006, could provide the ruling MPLA
with an opportunity to improve the state's capacity to deliver
goods and services to the vast majority of Angolans living
in abject poverty. "It [MPLA] never previously had to
rely on popular support for legitimacy, given the war-induced
state of emergency ... now, in the context of open political
competition, it must reach out to the civilian population
to expand its support base," the report noted.

The Brussels-based group added that
the government had become increasingly sensitive about its
international image, suggesting that its post-war re-emergence
could create a "dynamic for domestic reform". However,
the report also underscored several obstacles which could
frustrate economic reform efforts. Of central concern was
the personal interest many officials allegedly had in maintaining
the status quo. A regional analyst was quoted as saying: "The
system is based on patronage. Transparency would be counter-productive."
The lack of a unified commitment to serious change among the
senior leadership of the MPLA could also delay the implementation
of reforms, the report alleged. Nevertheless, there were elements
within the government and civil society that wanted to liberalise
the political system and make the economy more transparent.
ICG Africa Programme Co-director John Prendergast told IRIN:
"There are strong voices within the government that want
to pursue a more robust economic reform agenda. The incentive
driving reform advocates is to access multilateral debt relief
and lending that would reduce the country's onerous debt burden
and decrease the cost of borrowing significantly, thus enhancing
the ability of the government to underwrite important domestic
investment initiatives." Prendergast added that economic
diversification was imperative for reform. Oil accounts for
90 percent of exports and 80 percent of tax revenues in Angola.
The ICG recommended that the agricultural sector be given
a higher priority, not only for immediate recovery, but also
for obtaining the longer-term benefits of diversification.

The authorities should work with the
US government to qualify for participation in the benefits
of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), tariff-free
trade agreement. "Quiet engagement and partnership, especially
by donors and oil companies, is the most effective way to
influence government reform positively. The government's strong
desire for a donor's conference in 2003 also offers a significant
opportunity to engage and support the reform process,"
Prendergast said. But improved accountability was key to economic
recovery, the report noted. "The central problem in Angola's
management of [the] economy is that portion of oil wealth
that goes unaccounted for." Transparency International
ranked Angola third from last in its 2002 Corruption Perception
Index. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently accused
the government of siphoning off around US $1 billion in oil
revenues in 2002, and over US $4 billion during the last five
years. The ICG also highlighted the need for political pluralism,
saying further support was needed to strengthen civil society
groups. This would buttress their capacity to hold government
accountable on public welfare, economic reform, human rights
and democracy issues. "The support of peace by civil
society organisations was substantial and effective. It holds
a great deal of potential for doing the same on the political
and economic reform agendas. To have a greater impact, however,
will require greater coherence and organisation than exists
presently. But the elements are there for this to happen,"
Prendergast said. The report recommended that donors fully
fund an agricultural assistance programme in advance of the
September 2003 planting season. Additionally, it encouraged
donors to provide increased assistance for political party
development.

From AllAfrica.com, Africa, 8 April 2003

Government 'Will Stamp
Out Corruption'

Cape Town - The government remains
committed to fighting corruption with all the weapons it has,
or can develop, says Public Service Minister Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi.
"Our public servants know... they will be brought to
book if they abuse their positions," she said, during
a special debate in the National Assembly on Monday. The culture
of no fear that had developed in some provinces had come to
an end and, with interventions in the Eastern Cape and elsewhere,
the government had shown that those who abused their positions
would be caught, she said. "You can expect to see many
more arrests and disciplinary charges." However, corruption
was a partnership between people who sought favours and those
who accepted inducement to perform a corrupt deed, and the
solution had to take this into account. The government could
not be expected to solve the problem alone. The partnership
should involve unions, civil society, business, professional
associations and patriotic citizens. "It is time for
professional bodies and unions to engage in a campaign of
education and information. 'Zero-tolerance approach needed'
"It is time for all those who come across corruption
to use hotlines and make representation to the honourable
members of this house," said Fraser-Moleketi.

The Democratic Alliance's Raenette
Taljaard said only tough action and a zero-tolerance approach
could address the perception of widespread corruption in South
Africa. "This is the key challenge confronting the government.
"For example, while the clouds of suspicion remain around
the deputy president (Jacob Zuma), the government's moral
regeneration campaign will face a credibility crisis and feed
into existing negative perceptions," she said. Zuma has
denied allegations that he solicited a bribe from a company
linked to the arms deal. In fighting corruption perceptions,
Taljaard said, it was imperative to act against high-profile
leaders who fell foul of acceptable standards of conduct.
She called for a code of executive ethics and a "cooling-off
period" for members of the cabinet, as well as clear
and tough new sanctions for MPs who brought the house into
disrepute. "While the foundations have been laid, South
Africa is still an anti-corruption construction site. "The
fight against corruption is a fight that must be waged on
two fronts. We need to ruthlessly deal with incidents of corruption
when and wherever they occur. "But, perhaps even more
crucially, we need to combat the insidious and damaging perceptions
of the levels of corruption that exist in South Africa,"
said Taljaard.

From News24, South Africa, 15 April 2003

Democracy Best System
of Governance -Gov Ibrahim

Abuja - Governor Bukar Abba Ibrahim
of Yobe State, Saturday in Goniri, the headquarters of Gotala
local government area, joined other Nigerians in voting for
the candidate of his choice for the nations national assembly
seat. Governor Bukar Abba who cast his vote at exactly 10.46
a.m. at the Fulatari ward polling station in Goniri, his home
town, described democracy as the best system of governance.
He told journalists shortly after casting his vote, that politicians
and their supporters should shun politics of hatred and violence
so as to enhance the success of our nascent democracy in the
country. The governor also challenged the operators of the
system to always adopt what he called -an "open door
policy" which gives peoples confidence in their elected
representatives at all levels. Citing the case of Nigeria
as an example, Governor Bukar said the country has suffered
greatly under a long military dictatorship and the only viable
alternative is democracies that will open doors for the people
to actively participate is the decision-making process. He
opined that it is the policy of his government to involve
each and every one in the day-to-day affairs of his administration
because of his firm conviction in participatory democracy.
He regretted that the art of governance is today being run
through the media to the detriment of involving the people
in decision making adding that this has always been responsible
for unhealthy democratic practices.

Lagos - National Union of Electricity
Employees (NUEE) has alleged that government's rush to privatise
the National Power Authority (NEPA) is a ploy to cover-up
the fraud and loot perpetrated by top government officials
and challenged all the presidential candidates to the forthcoming
general election to tell Nigerians what they want to do with
NEPA as well as provide stable power supply to Nigerians.
NUEE warned that besides protecting the interest of its members,
as civil society group interested in the well being of all
Nigerians, the union would mobilise all patriotic Nigerians
against any pro-Privatisation leader as the programme is anti-people
imposed on Nigeria by the Bretton Wood Institutions. A statement
by the union's Deputy General Secretary, Comrade O. A. Sobowale
lamented that the present Obasanjo led government started
well but later derailed under influences from lender nations
and their local collaborators. The statement said: "When
the President Olusegun Obasanjo administration took the saddle
of leadership it moved in this direction but a few months
later, it capitulated in the opposite direction-towards privatisation.
Why was this so? What happened? There are three fundamental
reasons we can offer to explain this. First, the administration
pandered to the external pressures of lending agencies that
are increasingly pushing for privatisation throughout the
Third world. Second, the administration lacked the political
will to deal with the monumental corruption that had taken
place in NEPA, neither did it have the courage to bring the
culprits to book. Enormous unaccounted amounts were stolen
from NEPA, and nothing is being said about this either by
the President or the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE). Thirdly,
and not the least, the government has never put in place a
Board with unimpeachable integrity, patriotism and dedication
to duty, such that will be able to tackle the problems of
NEPA. Without fear of thoughtful contradiction, the Technical
Board put in place by the present administration became not
only part of the problem, but the biggest problem of NEPA.

The other problems include, poor maintenance
and turn around culture, obsolete equipment, poor tariff collection
from clientele which include the Presidency, the Army and
the Police, and illegal vandalisation of NEPA equipment. That
has been the history of NEPA. And we challenge any decent
administration to ask the books to be opened, Nigerians will
be shocked, because they will discover the truth. The attempt
to rush to privatise NEPA is meant to cover-up the fraud and
loot of some sacred cows." "The Government, through
the BPE, and with orchestrated indignation, has been wasting
taxpayers' money on ill-informed blackmail and propaganda
in the media directed against NEPA on the so-called issue
of non-performance. The key problem of NEPA is what is euphemistically
referred to as public sector corruption. Even the Presidency
and National Assembly suffer from it., numerous scandals reported
in the media daily, will suffice in this regard. The goal
should be how to rid the public sector of corruption and not
how to privatise all its strategic components. This should
be the cardinal objective of the new Board of NEPA and not
how to prepare NEPA for privatiation". According to him,
"our immediate reason for this statement is to put all
the twenty (20) Presidential candidates on alert and to urge
them to publicly state their position on the privatisation
of public enterprises and in particular their position on
NEPA. Our perusal of the manifestoes of the political parties
available to us does not suggest that any of them is willing
to pursue privatisation of NEPA, this is not to say that they
will not encourage private sector growth.

We do however know that, in the Nigerian context, there is
party manifesto and there is personal manifesto, many elected
politicians do not follow the programmes outlined by their
political parties." "We want to know what the personal
political manifesto of each Presidential candidate is, beyond
what was said during the Presidential debate. This becomes
crucial for two reasons. First, as an interest group and a
trade union, and above all as part of the electorate, we are
interested in what concern our members and what concern or
touch the interest of other citizens of Nigeria. This is quite
legitimate and consistent with the principles of democracy.
Second, beyond our franchise, we are going to embark on full-scale
mobilisation for or against any leader who is pro-privatisation,
this is because the programme is anti-people. This is not
misplaced sentiment or undue patriotism. Most certainly, the
privatisation of NEPA is an anti-poor people policy. Experiences
of Third world countries, particularly in the energy sector,
in Cote D'Voire, Pakistan, South Africa, New Zealand and South
Korea have proven this." The union added: "It is
for the foregoing reasons that we urge all the Presidential
candidates of all the 20 political parties in contention,
including the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), All Nigerian
Peoples Party (ANPP), Democratic Alternative (DA), National
Conscience Party (NCP), and United Nigeria Peoples Party (UNPP),
among many others to make a disclaim to this statement or
specifically tell us where they stand or what they intend
to do about NEPA genuinely salvage it or criminally auction
it.?" "The implication of not responding to this
statement, inadvertently knocks out the moral basis of the
pursuit of the privatisation of NEPA by any victorious aspirant,
post-election. But, should this happen, our Union is well-advised
about what to do."

From AllAfrica.com, Africa, by Victor Ahiuma-Young,
15 April 2003

ICSR Bemoans Effect
of Corruption on Nation's Economy

The Institute of Certified Secretaries
and Reporters (ICSR) on Monday expressed deep concern about
the damaging effect of corruption in the nation's economic
and political arena, and called on all concerned to demonstrate
integrity in their occupations and professional actions. Briefing
newsmen at Ikeja, Lagos on its forthcoming International Secretaries
and Official Reporters' Day Celebration, the Registrar-General
of the Institute, Samuel Ozomah said that demonstrating integrity
by people in their occupation and professional actions was
the only way to eliminate corruption in the body polity of
the nation. According to him, ethnic crisis, assassinations,
armed robbery, and all ills bedeviling humanity were rooted
in the lack of transparency, adding that whenever people failed
to see, know and understand what went on around them, they
felt insecured. "We are therefore appealing to professionals
to embrace transparency and integrity in their action",
he advised, while calling on the National Assembly to go ahead
and enact the law that would regulate the ICSR profession.
"The Bill on ICST, which had been considered by the House
of Representatives should be signed". Ozomah, who said
the Institute was also concerned with the success of the fourth
democratic experiment, urged the National and State Assemblies
to show their represented constituents what they were doing
at either the federal or state capitals by way of funding
hansard publication. "We also want the Judiciary to base
Judgements not only on rule of law but also on transparent
facts of the case by using the services of verbatim reporters",
he stated.

From Daily Times of Nigeria, by Kazeem Ugbodaga,
15 April 2003

Mwanawasa Renews Corruption
Fight

Lusaka - Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa
has stepped up his anti-corruption crusade by banning cabinet
ministers and senior officials from bidding for government
contracts, a move cheered by civil society groups. "If
you [government ministers] feel business is more important
for you, it is better for you to resign as you cannot have
it both ways [do business and serve government]," Mwanawasa
said at a campaign rally on Sunday in eastern Zambia. He vowed
to sack any government officials using their positions to
win government contracts. "I think this is a bold step
by the president once again, as far as the corruption fight
is concerned. As the church, we welcome this but our main
concern is whether this government has the capacity to know
whether a guy who has bid and won a tender is a friend or
relative of a cabinet minister ... has President Mwanawasa
done enough research? That is our concern," Reverend
Japheth Ndlovu, general-secretary of the influential Christian
Council of Zambia (CCZ) told IRIN. Mwanawasa has spearheaded
a drive against graft since coming to power in December 2001.
His renewed vow to weed out corruption has come barely a week
after Vice-President Enoch Kavindele was allegedly linked
to two multi-million dollar business deals.

Kavindele was said to be connected
to a company contracted as the sole importer of crude oil
to Zambia, Trans-Sahara Trading (TST), and the South African
cellular phone provider, Vodacom. He has denied involvement
in either case, but said his son had direct dealings with
the companies. Mwanawasa has since used his presidential powers
to terminate prematurely the TST deal, news reports said.
Kelvin Kaleyi, a Zambian business journalist, said stopping
politicians dabbling in business would take more than an appeal
to their sense of ethics: "Most of the ministers and
top government officials in Zambia are businessmen and -women
by background. Nothing will stop them from giving friends
or relatives tips of what tender is coming up and the easiest
way to win it. To me it's a futile fight, but a good effort
nevertheless." While Mwanawasa's corruption crusade has
been generally welcomed - domestically and by international
donors - his presidency remains mired in controversy over
the conduct of the 2001 election. The Supreme Court is hearing
a petition by opposition parties in which top former officials
have testified that tax payers' money was used to illegally
fund Mwanawasa's campaign. But Mwanawasa has not been distracted.
Arrest warrants have been issued against former president
Frederick Chiluba and senior figures in his administration,
which ruled Zambia for 10 years - an era known as the "decade
of plunder".

From UN Regional Information Africa, Africa,
15 April 2003

Local Governmentt Act
Fuels Corruption- Report

Kampala - The 1997 Local Government
Act greatly contributes to corruption in the districts, the
2003 National Integrity Survey report states. The report launched
last week recommended a wide range of amendments to the act,
particularly the appointments of the District Tender Board,
the District Service Commission (DSC) and the Chief Administrative
Officer (CAO). The survey done by K2-Consult said Section
55(2) of the Act undermines the neutrality of the DSC by vesting
the appointment of its members in the District Council. "In
view of this, it is recommended that the DSC be independent
and appointed by the Public Service Commission (PSC) from
names submitted by the LC3 or Divisions within each district,"
it stated. The report said the appointment of the CAO by the
DSC deprives the CAO of job security and makes his/her work
vulnerable to political influence. "In order to avoid
such problems and to streamline the district administrations,
the CAO should be appointed by the PSC on merit and should
be transferable by the PSC. "The CAO as head of public
service in the district should be able to advise the DSC and
the District Council without fear or favour," the report
said. The Inspector General of Government, Jotham Tumwesigye,
unveiled the report to journalists recently.

From AllAfrica.com, Africa, by John Eremu,
22 April 2003

Iganga Joins Fight
Against Corruption

Kampala - Iganga Deputy RDC James Nabesha
has said his office will support NGOs in the fight against
corruption in the district. Mr. Nabesha was speaking at an
annual general meeting for Iganga Poverty Action Monitoring
Committee (PMC) at the district council hall recently. The
meeting was monitored by a team from the Uganda Debt Network
(UDN). "Approach us. We shall summon the corrupt officials
in Iganga," Nabesha said. The Uganda Debt Network assistant
co-ordinator, Basil Kandyomunda urged Ugandans to always monitor
and demand for accountability of government money disbursed
to their districts. "It is your right to demand for accountability.
We need transparency and everybody should fight corruption
in Uganda," Mr. Kandyomunda said. UDN and PMC are structures
that work together to monitor public expenditure and all government
programmes to eradicate poverty.

From AllAfrica.com, Africa, 22 April 2003

Winnie's Case Shows
Mbeki is Tough On Corruption

The South African government seems
to be serious in its fight against corruption in high places,
if the sentencing of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and her broker
on dozens of counts of fraud and theft on Thursday is anything
to go by. Yesterday, a court sentenced Madikizela-Mandela
to five years in jail with one year suspended, a day after
her conviction. The prosecution had said a jail sentence was
appropriate, but said the court should consider her age. It
was the latest blow for a politician called "the Mother
of the Nation" for her fight against apartheid during
her former husband Nelson Mandela's 27 years in jail. She
was found guilty on 43 counts of fraud and 25 of theft. Her
broker was convicted on 58 counts of fraud and 25 of theft.
Though Madikizela-Mandela remains popular among the poor,
her reputation has been tarnished by a series of legal problems.
The most serious was her conviction in 1991 of kidnapping
and being an accessory to assault in connection with the death
of Stompie Seipei, 14, a township activist. Her six-year jail
sentence was reduced to a fine on appeal. On being sentenced
yesterday, Madikizela-Mandela immediately resigned from parliament
and from her post as the head of the Women's League of the
ruling African National Congress.

She becomes the second high-ranking
ANC member to be jailed, following Tony Yengeni's imprisonment
for four years for fraud in a case seen as a test of the government's
commitment in the fight against corruption. Yengeni, the former
ANC parliamentary chief whip, admitted defrauding parliament
and was acquitted on a more serious charge of corruption last
February, after cutting a deal with the state when his defence
team pulled out. Yengeni, like Madikizela-Mandela, resigned
his parliamentary seat earlier last month. The former anti-apartheid
guerrilla leader resigned as chief whip in 2002 over another
scandal. Although Yengeni protested his innocence, there was
no government interference with the judiciary to absolve him
of any wrongdoing, as has become common this side of the Limpopo.
Zimbabwe's economy is limping along because of people set
free even if they are guilty of corruption and fraud. Take
the National Oil Company of Zimbabwe case, for instance. Many
managers in that State-owned fuel procurement outfit have
appeared in court facing extremely serious charges, but nothing
has been done to them. This is despite the existence of the
Prevention of Corruption Act. Many prominent businessmen and
politicians have been arrested or tried under that Act, but
few have been convicted.

Only a handful have resigned on their
own when the scandals surfaced. That, to Zanu PF, is enough
prosecution. They do not continue investigations once a minister
accused or embroiled in graft steps down. To the people that
is just not enough. The long arm of the law should be allowed
to take its inexorable course. But the reason for the inaction
is simple. The top politicians interfere with the judicial
process. Examples abound of this interference. Professionals
like axed Chief Justice Anthony Gubbay and the Attorney-General,
Andrew Chigovera, who has been pressured to resign, are living
proof that Zanu PF leaders do not accept the rule of law.
These two high-ranking officials were forced out because Zanu
PF found them unyielding. Their victimisation gives the lie
to any attempts by Presidents Thabo Mbeki and Olusegun Obasanjo
to make the world believe things are back to normal in Zimbabwe.
If anything, the situation is deteriorating by the day. The
country has no foreign currency, fuel, basic essentials and
the rule of law has been overtaken by lawlessness - all because
of corruption, nepotism, cronyism, mismanagement and ineptitude.
Whatever his faults, Mbeki shows he is firmly committed to
the fight against corruption - unlike his counterpart this
side of the Limpopo.

From AllAfrica.com, Africa, 28 April 2003

DCA Plans Major e-Governance Initiative

Bangalore - The Department of Company
Affairs (DCA) will be undertaking an e-governance project
to make available all its services on the Internet in an interactive
manner, the DCA Secretary, Mr. Vinod Kumar Dhall, said today.
Speaking at an interactive session organised by the Greater
Mysore Chamber of Industry here, he said that it had been
proposed to implement the Rs 90-crore project, to be completed
in about a year, as part of a public-private initiative. The
information technology department had already engaged a consultant
to prepare a detailed report on the initiative, he informed.
Seeking to allay apprehensions about the Serious Fraud Investigation
Office, Mr. Dhall said this body would only investigate high-profile
and complex cases of corporate fraud where large amounts were
involved. The office, which would be operational shortly,
would function through multi-disciplinary teams under the
ambit of the Companies Act. Also, the help of outside agencies
could be sought for investigation, Mr. Dhall said, adding
that if required a new law concerning serious fraud could
be considered. The National Competition Law tribunal with
Benches in different parts of the country was in the process
of being set up and initially a small team would be set up
as a nucleus that would later be expanded.

From Business Line, India, 7 April 2003

Kerala: E-governance
Dreams Remain Unfulfilled

Thiruvananthapuram: One of the major
State Government initiatives in ushering in e-governance revolves
around the computerisation of treasury, civil supplies and
land records. Three years into the process, e-governance is
still miles away from being realised. A status paper of the
State Planning Board provides invaluable insights into major
e-governance and IT initiatives in Government. The status
paper reveals gaps in field level implementation and in taking
timely decisions. The result: promises remain unfulfilled.
Computerisation of Government Departments in Kerala started
in the late 1980s as part of an attempt to improve internal
efficiency. In 1999, the Task Force on IT implementation in
Government suggested that the focus should shift to citizen
interface and utilisation of information communication technology
tools for administrative reforms. Subsequently, the State
Government decided to commit 3 per cent of its budgetary allocation
for implementing IT in Government. Some of the departments
completed system study, application software development,
and preparation of database and data entry, not to mention
pilot deployment. Huge funds have already been spent on IT
development by these departments and large amounts would be
required in the coming years to ensure they provide meaningful
services. One of the major issues of concern is that the Government
has not conceived the post-implementation support required
for its e-governance proposals.

The treasury computerisation project
began in 1997 and the development phase in currently under
way. The pilot project is being implemented in Thiruvananthapuram
and Pathanamthitta and the first-level training for department
staff has been completed. The Government has spent Rs. 10.57
crores on treasury computerisation between 1998-99 and 2001-02.
During the current financial year (2002-03), the amount spent
is Rs. 9.35 crores till January 15, 2002 and an additional
Rs. 3 crores would be required additionally. The department
has asked for Rs. 10 crores for meeting its commitments on
balance payments, additional equipment, and equipment maintenance
and for consumables. The treasury project had originally envisaged
networking of offices, but it is now confined to individual
office automation. The status paper observed the department
had sought Rs. 10 crores for the coming year. This was inflated,
as procurement would be completed during the current year.
The department has also not given the break-up for the Rs.
10 crores it has sought. With regard to land records, the
status paper reveals that 84 per cent of the data entry has
been completed and computers have been purchased for Collectorates
and taluk offices. Data entry of 89,87,430 records has been
completed. The department has so far received Rs. 8.68 crores
for the project. Of this, Rs. 5 crores has been distributed
to District Collectors and Rs. 77 lakhs to the Director of
Survey and Land records.

The Government has decided to provide
computerised records of rights to the public with the balance
amount of Rs. 3 crores. This year, the Government released
just Rs. 61 lakhs for this. The department has entered data
in Unix platform. Now it wants to change to the Windows platform,
besides updating the data already entered. The status paper
favoured discontinuing the issuance of records of rights as
the existing database has become outdated, but wanted the
LR department to focus on digitising village records and basic
land records, including basic tax register and 'Thandaper'
register, which ensures ownership. Since computerisation in
this area has taken place to a large extent, the status paper
points out the need to install a mechanism to update the existing
database, with a cut-off date. Annual updating would be necessary
till the computerisation of the Registration Department was
over and the two databases are linked, it said. Computerisation
has fallen by the way side because there was no standardisation
of computer packages, the status paper pointed out. It has
also suggested inducting electronic survey equipment, which
can generate digital sketches.

This is now being tried out in four
districts. But the Planning Board has suggested that such
initiatives be confined to one district as a model project.
The Registration Department was put on the highway of computerisation
by an expert committee, which recommended the CARD project
in Andhra Pradesh. Accordingly, four sub-registry offices
were selected for implementation of the Package of Effective
Administration of Registration Laws, developed by the NIC
during 1999-2000. So far 114 out of the 308 SROs in the State
have been computerised. The Registration Department received
funds from the IT Department and under Plan allocation totalling
Rs. 4.8 crores, of which it has spent 4.4 lakhs. Another Rs.
16 crores would be required to computerise the remaining SROs.
The key issue is whether higher user fee can be levied for
services like issuing of encumbrance certificates. The Planning
Board feels that a nominal hike in rates would make this project
self-reliant to cover further stages of computerisation and
maintenance.

From Keralanext, India, 29 March 2003

$1.8m for Good Governance

University of the South Pacific Vice
Chancellor Savenaca Siwatibau says small Pacific nations face
many hurdles that impede development and investment and bring
poverty and dissatisfaction to many. These problems include
bad development management, government instability, corruption,
internal political shocks, political insecurity and ill-informed
communities, bad leadership and decision-making and poor financial
management and poor management of natural resources. "The
university has a role to play in addressing these issues through
its academic training programmes, community information, research
and partnerships, and its good governance programme,"
Mr. Siwatibau said. Towards this end the European Union (EU)
has given $1.8 million to help promote good governance in
the Pacific region. The funding will be provided over three
years to the USP to help establish and promote good governance
through education, research and training. A Memorandum of
Agreement between the EU and the USP was signed yesterday
for the project titled "Transforming Our Communities
Through Good Governance". The project aims to establish
the USP as resource base for good governance with three distinct
components - research and academic programmes; promoting public
information in democracy and electoral governance; and establishing
a good governance knowledge resource base. Mr. Siwatibau said:
"It will enhance the existing good governance programme
at the USP, develop a more politically aware community and
establish an electoral training mobile unit. "It will
make the USP a centre for democracy in the world movement
for democracy and, more critically, develop the research capacity
of the university in the area of good governance."

From The Daily Post, 17 April 2003

Admitting Mistakes
Part of Good Governance, Government Departments Told

Malacca: Law enforcement agencies have
been reminded to admit their mistakes as part of good governance
practice, says Minister in the Prime Minister's Department
Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim. One good example, he said, was the
action taken by Acting Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah
Ahmad Badawi who had directed the Foreign Ministry to apologise
to India over shortcomings in handling a group of Indian nationals
during a police raid recently, he said. "This is part
of the good governance practice," he told reporters after
opening a two-day national workshop on "Good Governance
Among Law Enforcement Agencies" here on Sunday night.
He said amendments would be made to include good governance
practices into the Criminal Procedure Code and the public
would be able to get feedback on the complaints they lodged
with government agencies. The Attorney-General's Chambers
had started work on drafting the amendment to include good
governance to be adhered to by law enforcement agencies, he
said.

Currently, the law did not have any
coverage on such area, he pointed out. Citing an example,
Dr Rais said a member of public would not know the status
of a police report he lodged some time ago as there was no
provision in law requiring the enforcement agencies to keep
the complainant informed. The same also applied to complaints
lodged with the Anti-Corruption Agency and complaints lodged
at counter service of government agencies. "The public
would not know whether the complaint is still being investigated,
or the matter has been closed and they have no one to ask,"
he said. Dr Rais also said he hoped that he would be able
to table the proposals to amend the Code at the Parliament
meeting in June. About 80 participants from Home Ministry,
Health Ministry, Road Transport Department, Fire and Rescue
Department, police, Anti-Corruption-Agency, Customs and Excise
Department, City Hall and other departments took part in the
workshop.

From Star, Malaysia, 14 April 2003

Ministers' Spat Over
Decentralization Continues

A dispute among ministers over who
said what concerning ways to boost local authorities' independence
continued Friday, with the public management minister criticizing
the finance minister. Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa "is
angry for a misunderstanding that he has only himself to blame
for," Toranosuke Katayama, minister of public management,
home affairs, posts and telecommunications, told reporters.
"He is an elder member and should be on the side of settling
issues, not that of complicating things," he said. Earlier
in the week, Shiokawa accused economic and fiscal policy minister
Heizo Takenaka of distorting what Prime Minister Junichiro
Koizumi said over the contentious issue of ways to promote
decentralization. Shiokawa said Takenaka inaccurately quoted
the prime minister when he told reporters Tuesday that the
transferring of a tax collection role to local authorities
from the central government should spearhead the debate. Takenaka,
however, repeated Friday that the prime minister mentioned
the issue in a meeting of the Council on Economic and Fiscal
Policy, the government's top policy-setting panel, which was
attended both by Takenaka and Shiokawa.

The prime minister said, "We will
transfer tax revenue sources" to local governments from
the central government, Takenaka said at a news conference.
Decentralization is a touchy matter for the Ministry of Public
Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications and
the Finance Ministry, which are sharply divided over ways
to achieve that goal. The public management ministry, which
oversees local governments, wants the central government to
swiftly transfer tax collection to local authorities. But
the Finance Ministry, which wants to ensure stable revenue
for state coffers, wants to couple any such move with reductions
in subsidies to local governments. At a separate news conference,
Shiokawa said he is willing to shift the role of tax collector
to local authorities, but that should come only if they take
on administrative duties that are currently performed by the
central government. "I think it would be good if the
transfer of both administrative power and fiscal sources are
carried out in parallel over a period of about three years,"
he said.

From Japan Today, Japan, 3 April 2003

'Good Governance Is
the Best Insurance'

The Indian CFO needs to be cash flow-driven
and find mitigants for market, industry and business risks
to ensure there are no violent swings in performance says
D P Roy, chairman, SBI Cap. Excerpts from an interview with
Manisha Singh. How can Indian CFOs rejig their strategies
in the current slowdown? In the slowdown phase, corporates
need to economise on overheads, divest unrelated activities
and grow in core areas. They should also examine opportunities
for going global to achieve fuller capacity utilisation to
improve margins. However, they should now think of strategies
to ride the upturn, which seems to be lurking around. With
the stock markets down, what avenues are available for companies
to raise finances? Companies can raise finance by debt /quasi-equity
instruments. They can also look for private equity. The need
for additional funding can be reduced by accessing the asset-backed
securitisation market. What are the principles of good corporate
governance? Good corporate governance requires transparency
and information sharing to the extent required with all constituencies
- shareholders, employees and clients. This is the best insurance
for managing reputation risk.

The board has to be truly independent
and comprise professionals from varied disciplines having
directorships well below the maximum number of companies permitted.
Audit committees should be chaired by a CA (chartered accountant)
and there should not be any executive director on this committee.
Directors should have no direct/indirect connection with the
company or its executives. They should be rotated every five
years and should not receive any remuneration except sitting
fees. They should also have a say on what matters to present,
in addition to the agenda submitted. In the balance sheet,
apart from the number of meetings held, aggregate time spent
by directors in their deliberations should figure. What are
the opportunities available for Indian companies looking at
raising finance from other countries? Indian firms can look
at both debt and equity options from other countries. They
need to diversify their debt into multi-currencies, which
will provide some natural hedge. Companies also need to use
concessionary export credit finance, now being extended in
rupees by some countries.

From Economic Times, India, 18 April 2003

Young People: Low Tolerance
of Corruption

The idea of the young as rebellious
and immoral is not borne out by the facts, say Pat Dade, director
of research at customer profiling firm Risk Values (www.riskvalues.com).
"Young people do commit crime and they do experiment
with a range of sexual and anti-social activities but the
picture of young people as a generally troubled and troubling
group is due to the extreme activities of a few and not the
general behaviour of the many," said Dade. This is particularly
true in relation to financial crime, it seems. Fraud and corruption
is rarely committed by the under 25s - if they commit crime
at all, and the vast majority do not (if we exclude motoring
offences and those of gaining entry to age-limited premises),
they commit offences such as theft, motor related crime and
drugs related crime. "The graphs for propensity to commit
financial crime are like Monty Python's dinosaur - 'thin at
one end, fat in the middle and thin at the other end', "
said Dade. This would not surprise the Hong Kong Independent
Commission Against Corruption which has analysed its prosecutions
over the past three years: "only about six per cent were
aged 25 or below," says ICAC Commissioner Ambrose Lee
Siu-kwong. Indeed, he cites the case of a young whistle blower
in which a supervisor, who had embezzled company funds, attempted
to offer monetary rewards to a young subordinate to hush the
matter up. The subordinate had not only refused the offer
but reported the case to the ICAC.

This does not surprise Les Higgins
- Director of Analysis at Risk Values: "young people
adopt stronger ethical and moral philosophical positions that
their elders. I'm talking about the big issues, like corruption,
war, the environment, etc. That's not to say that youngsters
don't get involved in crime - but it tends to be much more
opportunistic or adrenalin (or other chemical) based stuff
- or they get brought up in a criminal/violent culture and
simply mirror the behaviour of their elders." That matches
the opinions of Commissioner Lee who says that more than 700
tertiary students from Hong Kong, the Mainland, Macau and
Singapore who took part in the Youth Summit entitled "Corporate
Governance for the New Generation" last month expressed
a fervant desire for a clean and fair society. Lee says that,
when presented with the opportunity for corruption, people
should look at what they are being invited to do against three
measureing sticks: "He says one needs to be sure whether
a contemplated course of action will violate the laws such
as the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance; check whether it will
breach company or professional codes of conduct; and measure
his decision against his personal values." Risk Values'
Dade agrees: but with a note of caution "the problem
of knowing what is right and wrong is often not a matter simply
of knowing the law - it is a matter of basic morality. And
that is something that shifts from time to time. Also, people
instinctively know what is right but their judgement is often
tempered by what is accepted or even tolerated."

From World Money Laundering Report, UK,
22 April 2003

Recasting Governance
in Asia

The role of government - the only actor
possessing the legitimacy of a popular mandate - is fundamentally
important in steering a society forward. The private sector
and civil society are, of course, increasingly important partners
for governments. How relationships among these stakeholders
function will powerfully influence Asia's future development.
Governance-the way in which decisions that affect the public
interest are made-has emerged as a key factor in determining
a country's pace of development. Successful governance brings
purposeful change. Failure is punished by unrest, disaffection,
and stagnation. Today's Asian policymakers confront a very
different environment from that faced by their predecessors
fifty years ago. Asia's population has more than doubled since
1950, with most of that growth coming in its poorest countries.
The political systems of these countries were tailored to
small, static, rural populations. Now these societies must
cope not only with vast urban centres, but also with the very
different talents and demands of urbanized people. The global
economy has changed dramatically, too. Increased flows of
goods, money, and knowledge around the world mean that foreign
organizations and individuals become more influential, making
it increasingly difficult for national governments manage
their countries by themselves. For example, international
bodies such as the WTO have changed the framework within which
economic decisions are taken. Local economic change has been
equally dramatic. In parts of Asia, living standards have
skyrocketed.

Foreign investment from within and
outside the region has altered the structure of domestic economies.
Old models of economic growth, however, such as export orientation
and selective use of import restrictions that worked well
for East Asia in the last century, are less feasible under
today's global trade rules. So new rules of the game are needed.
In most Asian countries, formal rules need to be simplified
and applied more fairly. A "back to basics" approach
is vital in three inter-linked areas, in which national governments
must take the lead: minimizing corruption, enforcing property
rights, and consistent application of the rule of law. Few
countries score strongly here. Close links between business
and governments were blamed by many for the financial crisis
that struck Southeast Asia in 1997. In parts of South Asia,
violent conflict and the power of vested interests threaten
the rule of law. The result of such failures is that small
elites benefit while the majority suffers. A clear structure
of formal rules is the best antidote to these flaws, for they
bolster the informal customs on which so much in society depends.
Most business is not conducted in courts but in meetings where
trust and reputation are essential. As the social theorist
Robert Putnam has explained, "social capital"-the
networks, norms, and social trust that facilitate cooperation
and coordination for mutual benefit-is as much a determinant
as it is a result of economic growth.

Empowering as many members citizens
as possible is likely to instill a widespread sense of purpose
into efforts to move countries forward. Government, the private
sector, and civil society all have a role to play in strengthening
social capital. But successful interactions between these
sectors cannot be wished into existence, and it is essential
that the role of each is clearly defined. Many Asian governments
recognize the need to define their roles more clearly. Following
the 1997 crisis, the state withdrew further from markets,
acknowledging the limits to what it can achieve and the importance
of allowing private enterprise to flourish. But governments
retain a role in fostering an enabling environment within
which markets operate. Monitoring rules and enforcement are
important, but different ways of working - say, through public-private
partnerships - are also increasingly being considered in many
innovative Asian economies. The valuable role of civil society
in giving voice to communities that governments cannot reach
is also recognized, but its relationship with government and
business is often characterized more by conflict than cooperation.
The private sector's role in decision-making, too, often needs
to be clarified - where businesses have too much influence
over government, their need to operate profitable may lead
to policies that favour the few over the many. The metaphor
of a game - with rules and participants - leads many to think
in terms of a competition between nations.

This is not entirely healthy, as our
interdependent world is not a zero-sum game, where one country's
gain is another's loss. Indeed, countries do not compete against
each other in the way that firms do. Trade is potentially
a positive-sum game, with all countries benefiting by exploiting
their areas of comparative advantage. Good governance can
enhance this positive-sum game, and ensure that companies
and individuals within countries partake of the benefits.
In another sense, however, it is valuable to think of governments
as being in competition - providing a more effective service
to their people than other governments. International comparison
of systems therefore plays an important role. In this spirit,
this month's UNCTAD-UNDP conference - "Governance in
Asia: Underpinning Competitiveness in a Global Economy"
- will bring together policy-makers from across Asia to discuss
the governance challenges that Asia faces. The role of government
- the only actor possessing the legitimacy of a popular mandate
- is fundamentally important in steering a society forward.
The private sector and civil society are, of course, increasingly
important partners for governments. How relationships among
these stakeholders function will powerfully influence Asia's
future development. David Bloom is Professor of Economics
and Demography at Harvard University; David Steven is a policy/strategic
consultant who founded River Path Associates, a UK-based knowledge
consultancy; Mark Weston researches and writes on policy issues
for a variety of organizations.

From Daily Times, Pakistan, by David Bloom,
David Steven & Mark Weston, 24 April 2003

Action Plans to Combat
Corruption

A national survey has been completed
to pave the way for recommendations on formulating strategies
to strengthen integrity and combat corruption at all levels
of government. Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) Director-General
Datuk Zulkipli Mat Noor said the Government-funded survey
conducted by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) covered
7,594 respondents throughout the nation. However, he was unable
to reveal the recommendations since the ACA was still in the
process of studying them. He was speaking to reporters after
the opening of the national Integrity Management Committee
(IMC) Secretariat meeting at Pacific Wing Sutera Harbour Resort
and Spa here, Monday. Chief Minister Datuk Musa Aman officiated
at the opening. Zulkipli said all the 25 Federal ministries
were required to set up their own IMCs, as well as district-level
IMCs in the respective states. The feedback from these committees
would be channelled to the ACA as the national co-ordinating
body, which in turn would forward it to the Government. Among
results from the IMC was the monthly meet-the-client sessions.
"The committee is related closely to etiquette laws÷by
firmly implementing the IMC orders we can solve internal problems,"
he said. Zulkipli said the IMC had also attracted the attention
of many other countries, which had expressed interest to emulate
and incorporate the system into their government administration.

From Daily Express, Malaysia, 28 April 2003

Bangladesh Minister
Blames Corruption for Ferry Disasters

Dhaka - Shipping Minister Akbar Hossain
blamed corruption and red tape for ferry accidents in Bangladesh
and said he was planning new measures to avert the disasters
that left thousands of people dead and missing every year.
"We have many constraints that have slowed the progress
in the efforts to improve safety on river voyages," he
told Reuters in an interview on Monday. "On the top are
acrimonious red tape and widespread corruption. There are
financial problems too," he said. In the most recent
disasters two ferries sank last week, killing more than 300
people. Scores more are still missing and are believed dead,
police and other officials said. At least 600 people died
in ferry accidents last year and rescue and police officials
say 1,000 were missing. Hossain said any proposal to develop
river communications or improve safety usually got stuck in
bureaucratic tangles. "Corrupt officials easily approve
faulty designs of the vessels and then issue certificates
of fitness. They also easily bypass laws or avoid punishment,"
he said. Hossain said Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia had
ordered a number of measures to avert sailing accidents after
ferry disasters early last year killed at least 450 people.
But the implementation had been slow, Hossain said, adding
he was now considering new alternatives to beat the obstacles.
"I am planning to call in the private sector to build
and operate ferry terminals, give local administration more
powers to monitor, seize and penalise offending vessels and
their owners, and listing modern technical support to ensure
that new ferry models are properly tested before pressed into
service," he said. "But everything depends on how
soon and how effectively we can do away with corruption and
cut through red tapes," he said.

Ferry accidents occur frequently in
Bangladesh, a mostly flat region criss-crossed by rivers and
tributaries. Officials and police both blame the accidents
mainly on faulty designs of vessels, neglect of safety regulations,
poor monitoring and lax use of law. The minister said the
government had declared 40 ferries unworthy of sailing following
investigations over the last one year and many more were being
checked. "We have asked ferries not to take overload
of passengers, check weather bulletins before sailing and
make quick berthing in case of a storm. But hardly anyone
follows the guidelines." "Now we are planning to
shift the marine courts from the ministry to district administrations,
hoping they can work more independently and implement the
laws stiffly," he said. But the outcome remains to be
seen. Dr. M. Reaz H. Khondoker, head of the department of
Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering at Bangladesh University
of Engineering and Technology, said out of 20,000 ferries
sailing across the country, only 8,000 were registered and
800 had fitness certificates. Khondoker said his department
was now assisting the shipping ministry to plug the legal
and bureaucratic loopholes. "This seems to be an uphill
task but together we can do it," he said. Both the minister
and Khondoker, however, said no plan would work unless the
people themselves became "concerned and conscious about
their own safety."

From Reuters AlertNet, UK, by Anis Ahmed,
28 April 2003

Romania Building £3m Super Prison
to Tackle Corruption

Romania is to spend £3 million on a
super prison to stop criminal masterminds from running their
illegal empires from behind bars. It will be built on the
site of a former military base in Bucharest, and feature a
£1 million high-tech security system. Corruption in Romania
has been described as endemic, and the government has set
up a special National Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office
to deal with the problem. Anti-Corruption Prosecutor Ioan
Amarie, told local media: "It may be asked why we are
spending so much money on a special prison for corrupt people.
"The reason is that very important people who held high
positions in the administration, or who are financially very
powerful, are still running illegal activities from the prisons
in which they are now."

From Ananova, 17 April 2003

How to Root Out Russian
Corruption

At a Kremlin meeting on Feb. 19, President
Vladimir Putin publicly challenged the leaders of the Union
of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP) to help "destroy
the breeding ground for corruption." RSPP is a business
association that includes the financial-industrial groups
that secured control of a majority of Russia's wealth during
the past decade of privatization. The association responded
by creating a working group that will recommend administrative
reform measures to the president within three months. Many
analysts dismissed the exchange between Putin and RSPP as
one staged to help the Kremlin manage public debate over corruption,
leading toward the election season. Ironically, the Feb. 19
meeting skirted scrutiny of the business practices of RSPP
members. It is tempting to view it as a post-Perestroika production
of Gogol's "Inspector General." Instead, consider
the ways that the president's vocal position can spur the
public debate and advance civil society's objective to reduce
corruption. The public tends to blame the demand side of the
corruption equation - that is, civil servants at all levels
and bureaucrats of all stripes. Who to blame? Such blame,
in turn, leads to a focus on administrative reform - particularly
reducing obstacles to business that provide civil servants
the opportunity and incentive to demand bribes and engage
in other forms of rent-seeking. Russia, however, must attack
the breeding ground from both the demand and supply sides.

To succeed, the supply side, or private
sector, must accept a significant degree of responsibility.
Perhaps this is why, on Feb. 19, the Russian president directed
his challenge for "concrete suggestions" to RSPP.
Russia's leading financial-industrial groups have been and
remain in a position to mold government decrees and regulations,
licensing and tendering procedures to secure ownership of
state assets - also known as "state capture." World
Bank and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
studies show that countries with a high incidence of "state
capture" tend to be weakened by poor governance of economic
development. Licenses or tenders granted without competition
create conditions under which a few companies monopolize public
resources and tax-paying, efficient businesses subsidize inefficient
enterprises. State capture by large enterprises creates barriers
to market entry by small-to-medium-size enterprises ("SMEs")
and foreign investors. It impedes the rule of law and undermines
confidence in government institutions. Russia's market development
has also been hindered by a related phenomenon - "business
capture." A business group seeking to take control of
assets owned by a private company turns to government officials
for assistance. Officials use their positions to manipulate
courts, laws and administrative and law-enforcement agencies
to help the group secure the company's property.

This trend also severely undermines
the credibility of institutions required to govern a market
economy. Perhaps this is why, in a speech before the Interior
Ministry on Feb. 6, Putin warned law enforcement authorities
to cease becoming involved in private commercial disputes.
Notwithstanding the fact that civil servants play a role in
both state and business capture, these practices are bred
in the private sector. The breeding ground can be attacked
only if private sector leaders take initiative. There are
numerous market incentives for RSPP and other business leaders
to adopt anti-corruption practices. They include enhancing
reputation and good will as business assets, reducing the
risk and costs associated with capture, strengthening competitive
position, increasing shareholder value, and gaining access
to capital and credit on better terms. In the long-term, RSPP
requires institutions that can govern a market economy built
on true competition. To meet Putin's challenge, RSPP should
take concrete initiatives that can be implemented largely
by the supply side. In particular, RSPP members should form
"integrity pacts" with other large businesses, SMEs
and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) at the national
and regional level designed to institute conditions for transparent
and fair business competition. The most concrete form of an
integrity pact is a "no-bribery pledge," under which
companies entering a government tender or privatization bid
and the officials responsible for choosing the winner commit
to a transparent procedure. In particular, they pledge not
to offer, pay, accept or seek bribes of any kind during the
tender.

To show their good faith, they may
place funds in escrow that they would relinquish if they did
engage in bribery. If a business does not abide by the guidelines,
they lose the bid and other participants in the pledge can
stop doing business with or blacklist them. Such pacts have
been implemented to one degree or another throughout the world,
including in Ecuador (tender for oil refinery rehabilitation),
Panama (privatization of telecommunications), Indonesia (Technology
Ministry), Argentina (subway and bridge construction), Nepal
(municipal contracts) and Benin (highway construction). In
order to maximize impact on economic growth, RSPP should form
integrity pacts that help both large enterprises and SMEs.
Disproportionately injured by the extortion practices of officials
at all levels, SMEs are already taking local initiatives throughout
Russia. Clubbing together For example, in St. Petersburg,
a highly regarded economics professor, Lev Kaplan, and the
General Director of the U.S. subsidiary of Otis Elevator,
Vladimir Marov, have led the formation of an "Honest
Builders' Club." The coalition dedicated to fair business
practices now includes 30 of the largest local construction
companies, various NGOs and the city's Vice-Governor for Construction.
RSPP can find ample know-how for combating corruption in the
ground-breaking research being performed by Russian NGOs.
According to a recent study by the Center for Anti-corruption
Research and Initiative of Transparency International-Russia
and INDEM, Russian citizens pay more than $30 billion a year
in bribes, not only to conduct business but also to secure
access to health, education and housing.

A Transparency International-Russia
survey shows how corruption continues to breed at a rapid
pace in regional and local governments. Targeting the regions
RSPP leaders should also take initiative in the regions in
which they operate their factories. They are in the best position
to help institute local programs to monitor government agencies
and budget processes, increase access to information regarding
allocation of public resources, and foster independent oversight
of public procurement. Business has a direct incentive to
address such issues at a regional level. The human resources
of any company are more productive and efficient in an environment
where employees feel secure about bribe-free health care,
education, and housing services. To galvanize Russia's public
debate over corruption, it is vital to remove the sole responsibility
for reform from government. By focusing on the supply-side,
debate can lead to more direct, immediate and measurable action.
In turn, by taking the initiative, the private sector assumes
a position to demand government steps to guarantee that regulatory
processes are fair, open, competitive and informed. (Matthew
H. Murray is chairman of the Center for Business Ethics &
Corporate Governance in St. Petersburg. Elena A. Panfilova
is general director of the Center for Anti-Corruption Research
and Initiative, Transparency International-Russia.)

The US ambassador to Romania on Tuesday
urged the country's government to fight corruption, describing
it as a crime that was impeding development. Corruption was
one of the main stumbling blocks to Romania joining Nato and
the European Union has said the country must make progress
on the problem before it is asked to join in 2007.Ambassador
Michael Guest, who was speaking at an international donors
anti-corruption conference in Bucharest, said some Romanians
told him he did not understand the issue. "But I understand
too well. I understand why businessmen with inside connections
don't want new, tighter laws to be passed or implemented,"
Mr. Guest said. "I understand why some privatisations
take so long - if they ever occur. I also know what too often
happens, or more pointedly, what fails to happen, when insiders
beat out those who should have won the deal. It is a shame
for this country," he added. Mr. Guest said the judiciary
was also unacceptably slow to act in cases of corruption or
where powerful interests were being challenged. "I understand
the forces that keep properties from being restituted to their
rightful owners. I understand why some prosecutions are so
slow to move forward. I certainly have my suspicions as to
why some court judgments are never reached," he said.

Mr. Guest praised new legislation and
the appointment of an anti-corruption prosecutor who has recently
made some high-profile arrests including an adviser to a senior
cabinet minister. "I want to be clear with you that I
am not laying these problems at the government's door. Indeed,
I believe this government has done more to tighten laws and
strengthen institutions than any previous government,"
he said. However Mr. Guest said the time for studying the
problem was over. "I strongly urge [the government] to
focus not on studies but on concrete projects and actions
that will result in the most immediate and practical impact
on the lives of the Romanian people," he said. Foreign
investors have frequently complained that corruption is one
of the main difficulties of doing business in Romania. The
problem is exacerbated by badly written or constantly changing
legislation. This allows individual interpretations of the
regulations which in turns allows officials to demand bribes
to overlook often imaginary transgressions. Lowly paid judges
are also accused of ruling in favour of the highest bidder.

From Financial Times, by Phelim McAleer,
15 April 2003

13 Points Issued in Forum on Iraqi
Governance

Participants in the U.S.-sponsored
forum on Iraq's postwar government said they had agreed on
13 points that summarized the meeting and set future goals.
1. Iraq must be democratic. 2. The future government of Iraq
should not be based on communal identity. 3. A future government
should be organized as a democratic federal system, but on
the basis of countrywide consultation. 4. The rule of law
must be paramount. 5. Iraq must be built on respect for diversity
including respect for the role of women. 6. The meeting discussed
the role of religion in state and society. 7. The meeting
discussed the principle that Iraqis must choose their leaders,
not have them imposed from outside. 8. Political violence
must be rejected, and Iraqis must immediately organize themselves
for the task of reconstruction at both the local and national
levels. 9. Iraqis and the coalition must work together to
tackle the immediate issues of restoring security and basic
services. 10. The Baath Party must be dissolved and its effects
on society must be eliminated. 11. There should be an open
dialogue with all national political groups to bring them
into the process. 12. The meeting condemned the looting that
has taken place and the destruction of documents. 13. The
Iraqi participants voted to have another meeting in 10 days.
That meeting would be held with additional Iraqi participants
in a location to be determined. It would discuss procedures
for developing an interim Iraqi authority.

From USA Today, 15 April 2003

USAID Awards Contract
to Improve Iraqi Local Governance

North Carolina company to provide technical
assistance and grants - The U.S. Agency for International
Development (USAID) announced April 11 that it had awarded
an initial $7.9 million contract to Research Triangle Institute
(RTI) to create opportunities for Iraqi civic participation
in the country's post-conflict reconstruction through technical
assistance and grants. In a statement released April 11, USAID
said RTI would "create programs to increase management
skills, knowledge and capacity of local administrators to
direct services such as water, health, and public sanitation
and in areas such as economic governance," and will provide
technical assistance to strengthen civil society and institutions.
"All activities under the RTI contract will target underrepresented
or 'at risk' groups, including organizations that promote
women's rights and strive to help youth and minority groups
to participate in the political process," said the statement.
Following is the text of the USAID statement: USAID Awards
Iraq Local Governance Contract - The U.S. Agency for International
Development (USAID) today announced an initial $7.9 million
award to the North Carolina-based Research Triangle Institute
(RTI) to promote Iraqi participation in Iraq's post-conflict
reconstruction. Providing the people of Iraq, and in particular
women, the opportunity to participate in public decision-making
and stimulate local initiatives is a key component of the
U.S. government's assistance program for Iraq.

Under the USAID contract RTI will provide
technical assistance to strengthen local administrations,
civic institutions and civil society. RTI, an independent,
non-profit organization based in Research Triangle Park, North
Carolina, will create programs to increase management skills,
knowledge and capacity of local administrators to direct services
such as water, health, and public sanitation and in areas
such as economic governance. A provision in the contract allows
RTI to authorize grants to both Iraqi and foreign non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) to improve municipal infrastructure,
assist local NGOs with capacity building and undertake training
programs in communications, conflict resolution, leadership
skills and political analysis. All activities under the RTI
contract will target underrepresented or "at risk"
groups, including organizations that promote women's rights
and strive to help youth and minority groups to participate
in the political process. The local governance contract is
part of USAID's planned reconstruction assistance to the Iraqi
people, aimed at helping maintain stability, ensure the delivery
of essential services, and facilitate economic recovery. This
is one of eight initial requests for proposals (RFPs) issued
by USAID as part of its overall relief and reconstruction
efforts in Iraq.

From Washington File, 11 April 2003

Lawmakers Stymie Bush on Anti-Corruption
Bill for Public Officials

Gov. Jeb Bush has never been timid
about controversy. From promoting school vouchers to cutting
taxes to eliminating affirmative action, Bush has stood his
ground and has pretty much gotten his way. But on one issue
-- which seems the least controversial of all - Bush has whiffed
three times. And with the 2003 Legislature entering its final
weeks, the governor may find his proposal rejected for the
fourth year. What does the governor want? He wants lawmakers
to toughen the state's anti-corruption laws for public officials.
He has been trying, to no avail, since December 1999 to get
the Legislature to embrace a bill called the "Citizens'
Right to Honest Government." The bill is an outgrowth
of a governor's commission, which included prosecutors, public
officials, and other legal experts, that recommended strengthening
the state's anti-corruption laws, which are used to prosecute
government officials and politicians who use their offices
for private gain. The commission found that many of the state's
anti-corruption laws were unenforceable or too vague to fit
the crime. The House has previously endorsed the bill and
again appears poised this year to back it. But the legislation
has consistently stalled in the Senate, where members have
publicly or privately complained the bill may have unintended
consequences. This year's version finally cleared the Senate
Ethics and Elections Committee last week, but it has several
more committee stops with only two weeks left in the session.

A key group of House and Senate members,
including two former prosecutors, is trying to salvage the
bill without limiting its original intent. "We want a
net big enough to allow prosecutors and law enforcement to
go after corrupt public officials, but a net that is not so
broad that inadvertent conduct falls within it," said
Sen. Rod Smith, D-Alachua, a former state prosecutor. Rep.
Dan Gelber, D-Miami Beach, a former federal prosecutor, said
although lawmakers have tried to tighten definitions and modify
other portions of the legislation, it remains "a pretty
strong bill." Other key promoters include Sen. Jim Sebesta,
R-St. Petersburg, and Rep. Dudley Goodlette, R-Naples. The
bill remains high on the governor's priority list, said Lt.
Gov. Toni Jennings, who said she was pleased the bill had
finally cleared a Senate committee. "I think that is
a very good sign," she said. Never forgive, never forget
- Former State Senate President John McKay may be gone from
the halls of the Florida Capitol - but the Bradenton Republican
is far from forgotten. In fact, it appears that Republicans
in the Florida House of Representatives continue to have a
high level of disdain for McKay a year after he left office.
McKay earned the wrath of many House members because of his
ironclad will and brass-knuckled style of negotiations. House
members are pushing legislation to undo one of McKay's legislative
achievements and they have complained about a proposed bill
that would name an entrance pavilion at the Ringling Museum
of Art in Sarasota after him.

Rep. Ralph Arza, R-Hialeah, is sponsoring
legislation that would undo a two-year-old law that restricts
how much money school administrators can receive when they
cash out unused sick leave. McKay fought for years to get
the limits into law and only succeeded after he became Senate
president in 2000. Arza, who works for Miami-Dade County schools,
testified recently at a House committee meeting that the change
in 2001 was "forced down our throats" by McKay.
Other House members agreed with the assessment, and Rep. Fred
Brummer, R-Apopka, said he was "encouraged to see the
efforts of the former Senate president being wiped out."
McKay said last week that he expected school districts to
push to repeal the law he championed. "It took me 11
years to pass that bill so I'm not surprised," he said.
But House Republicans are also taking aim at McKay over a
university naming bill now moving through both chambers. The
legislation would rename various buildings in the state's
11 universities after donors, prominent university deans,
and after politicians such as McKay. McKay, who engineered
having Florida State University assume control of Ringling
and last year helped steer millions toward the museum, would
have a pavilion renamed the "John M. McKay Visitors'
Pavilion." "Politicians shouldn't be rewarded for
spending the people's money," complained Rep. John Stargel,
R-Lakeland, who wasn't even in the Legislature last year when
McKay was in power. Compiled from reports by Lloyd Dunkelberger
and Gary Fineout of the Tallahassee Bureau.

From Sarasota Herald-Tribune, FL, 21 April
2003

Shaw's Ten Commandments
for Good Governance

Opposition Spokesman on Finance, Audley
Shaw, made his contribution to the 2003/2004 Budget Debate
in the House last week. Below are the excepts of his presentation
dealing with what he said were his 10 commandments for good
governance. FIRST, IT will take a willingness to accept the
reality that we face a very real and serious problem and a
commitment to solving the problems. The Ministry of Finance
issued a press release a few weeks ago in which the Ministry
attempted to explain, in essence, that all was fine in Jamaica
and that Jamaica's financial position was not as bad as several
international agencies including two international investment
banks that have underwritten the majority of Jamaica's international
bond offering had made it out to be. How can the Government
expect to solve a major problem when they themselves fail
to admit or acknowledge that they face a serious problem?
How can Government expect to solve the problems of high interest
rates, devaluation, and fiscal deficit when the Minister of
Finance is convinced that creating a mountain of debt is quite
in order and we can just "borrow our troubles away"?

COMMITMENT TO CONSISTENCY - Second,
it requires a commitment to consistency in policy-making and
a commitment to building confidence, particularly among investors.
How can any Government run a country successfully and generate
investor confidence when drastic and dramatic and dangerous
policy changes and reversals are made seemingly without careful
thought or analysis or consultation or rationale. One day,
a foreign bond is offered. The next day, an indexed bond is
offered. Another day, a local bond at nearly double the existing
rates is offered. Yet another day, cash reserve requirements
for banks are hiked. How can any reasonable business other
than margin-gatherers operate successfully in this kind of
environment? Third, it will take a commitment to fiscal discipline
and reducing the size of Government primarily through cutting
waste and over-expenditure. The Government must lead by example,
How can the Government expect everyone to tighten their belts
when the Government's belly is so big, it can't even see its
own belt? And I am not making any reference to any particular
Minister when I make this comment. The Government must take
the difficult and painful but critical and essential decision
to reduce its voracious appetite for greater expenditure for
the greater good of the nation and in an effort to rescue
our future. Fourth, it requires a commitment to providing
an economic climate and environment in which businesses can
grow and prosper. I have warned repeatedly that the sustained
high interest rate policy is dangerous and extremely harmful
to businesses that are attempting to finance expansion, growth
and job creation through debt financing. The interest rate
policy of the Government makes expansion extremely difficult
and, in many cases, prohibitive.

MAINTAINING A BALANCED BUDGET - Fifth,
it will take a commitment to reducing the size of our debt
and maintaining a balanced budget. I have said in the past
outside of Parliament, and I repeat now within these hallowed
halls, that we need to start a debate about the benefits of
passing balanced budget legislation that prevents the Government
from running massive fiscal deficits and curb the Government's
seemingly insatiable appetite for more and more high cost
debt. We are simply mortgaging our children's future with
the massive debt levels we currently face and, again, courage
and conviction are needed to ensure that these levels are
reduced and maintained. Sixth, it will demand a commitment
to identify and actively support new sectors and industries
in which Jamaica can participate competitively and that will
contribute to economic growth and job creation. In the Leader
of the Opposition's contribution to the budget debate last
year and again in the JLP manifesto published last year, several
new industries and sectors were identified as areas where
Jamaica could attract private investors or provide seed funding
that could have a meaningful and substantial impact on the
Jamaican economy. Unfortunately, we are yet to see any of
these creative and potentially lucrative areas being pursued
or promoted in any significant way by the Government.

COMMITMENT TO ACTION - Seventh, it
will require a commitment to action, results and implementation.
Too much and too often what we hear from the Government is
flowery language and pretty rhetoric, but no action or follow
up. Too often we see the establishment of committees and task
forces and commissions intended to address critical problems
that attract eminent Jamaicans who often time spend many valuable
hours and publish thoughtful, incisive, and pioneering reports,
only to see these reports ignored and status quo maintained.
We will only emerge from the rut in which we have fallen when
we become serious about implementation and about ensuring
that we mean what we say and we do what we say we are going
to do, in a timely, transparent, and consultative manner.
(Cite Stone, Nettleford, Orane and Moses reports on cutting
Government size and waste). Eighth, it requires a commitment
to fairness and that there be no personal favourites and that
sacred cows be sacrificed. True progress will begin when we
recognise that a consultant to the Government should be someone
with relevant, practical and meaningful expertise, qualifications,
and experience who can add substantial value in an area where
no current expertise exists, not retired parliamentarians
or close political allies given a "reward" for their
loyalty and personal support.

Of course, political allies and former
parliamentarians can sometimes be effective and even potent
policy advisers, but their appointment must be open and transparent
and subjected to public scrutiny. Unfortunately it is clear
that given the large number of these persons on the public
payroll under this Government, factors other than merit and
qualifications are driving these appointments which shockingly
is occurring at great public expense and contributing to the
growing deficit. Mr. Speaker, most of these so-called "consultants":
and "advisers" are paid far more handsomely than
they would have been had the people elected them to Parliament.
Ninth, it requires a commitment to provide strong, decisive
leadership that consults with all relevant parties but ultimately
takes and executes the necessary decisions. A country must
be able to rely on its leaders to mean what they say and do
what they mean. If a leader has repeatedly made a commitment
to hold Local Government elections by a certain date, then,
in the absence of a national disaster or similarly exigent
circumstance, that commitment must be honoured. How can any
leader have credibility when no one can have any confidence
that the leader will actually do what he says or even has
any intention whatsoever in doing so. Our leaders must lead
by example and they must set the example of consistency, sincerity
and fixity of purpose and action.

COMMITMENT TO GREATER ACCOUNTABILITY
- Tenth, it requires a commitment to greater transparency
and accountability in Government. Government must aggressively
prosecute corrupt officials and contractors who plunder the
public purse. It is not enough to talk about "youthful
exuberance" or to seek absolution on legal technicalities
identified by close political allies in inexplicable reports
that appear out of nowhere. It is not enough to appoint committees
and commissions to identify problems. If there is even the
taint of corruption, the Government must move swiftly to send
in the Director of Public Prosecutions or even to create a
special Anti-Corruption Unit within the DPP's Office to specifically
focus on corruption including at the highest levels of Government
to demonstrate to the people of Jamaica that there is a genuine
commitment to transparency and accountability in Government.
If one wants to talk about values and attitudes and have credibility
in doing so, you must start, as Michael Jackson puts it so
well, with the man in the mirror.

CONCLUSION - Mr. Speaker, if these
ten commitments are made, and taken seriously and sincerely
by the Government we could start the journey to recovery with
surefootedness and confidence. As Jamaicans we have serious
decisions to take. We must decide whether we want good government
or not. We must insist that our Government has the primary
purpose of educating and training our people, and ensuring
a clean, safe, healthy and just society within which the opportunities
exist for our people to be creative and productive in the
pursuit of increasing their own wealth and happiness. In these
simple objectives, the Government has clearly been a dismal
failure, the result is an educational system that, despite
pockets of excellence, is embedded in mediocrity, our people
yearn for good quality long-term jobs, and the quality of
life that we live leaves a lot to be desired, suffering deterioration
year after year.

From Jamaica Gleaner, Jamaica, 28 April
2003

Parliaments Can Help Poorest Countries
Achieve Good Governance

A senior United Nations official has
urged a gathering of international lawmakers to strengthen
parliamentary institutions in the world's poorest countries
in order to provide the boost necessary to achieve good governance
and to perhaps help nearly 10 per cent of the world's population
secure sustainable human development. Speaking at the 108th
conference of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), currently
underway in Santiago, Chile, Anwarul Karim Chowdhury, High
Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked
Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (OHRLLS),
emphasized that strong political support is indispensable
for meeting the development challenges in the world's most
poverty-stricken countries. "The parliament, as the legislative
engine, is the main force in strengthening democratic institutions
and ensuring human development, Mr. Chowdhury said in an address
last Tuesday, stressing that in this context, the IPU plays
a leading role in ensuring the role of parliaments in developing
public policies in an era of globalization and multilateral
issues.

Mr. Chowdhury said that cooperation
between IPU and his Office could bring a parliamentary dimension
to the work relating to the areas of peace and security, economic
and social development, human rights, democracy and gender
issues for the 615 million people - 10 per cent of the world
population - who constitute the poorest and the weakest segment
of the international community. Mr. Chowdhury stressed that
the Programme of Action adopted in Brussels by the 2001 Third
UN Conference on Least Developed Countries (LDCs), highlights
the objectives of good governance at national and international
levels. "Parliamentary support will provide the boost
necessary to achieve good governance objectives at the national
level, he said, adding that success in meeting the objectives
of development and poverty eradication depends on good governance
in LDCs as well as good governance at the international level
and on transparency in the financial, monetary and trading
systems.

From EuropaWorld, by Lee Yuk Peng, 12 April
2003

Emerging Criteria Raise
Important Issues in Governance

The Barbados Advocate today brings
the concluding remarks by Dr. Marion Williams at the conference
on Corporate Governance. The first part of her address was
published in yesterday's Business Monday. Important synergies
may also be lost by the separation of audit and consultancy
services. Isn't the professional who knows the firm best,
in the best position to advise on it? There are gains in orderliness
but losses in effectiveness. While many new regulations have
balanced results for developing countries, not all do. It
has been argued that in the case of Basle II that the proposal
to link Banks' Capital Asset Ratios to external rating would
introduce modest improvements at the cost of substantial distortions
for developing countries. It has been argued that the volatility
of Banks' capital requirements in poor countries would be
increased and the cost of capital for the best institutions
would be higher than peer institutions from other developed
countries. I believe this is being addressed. Also, from a
developing country perspective, it is useful if rules could
be implemented with relevance to the domestic situation, without
pressure of immediate compliance, given the fact that countries
are at the various stages of development and have different
levels of complexity in their systems. We need also to guard
against excessive complexity. We must ensure that governance
does not become a science which is caught up not in functionality
but in complexity - and that the greater the complexity, the
more impressive it is thought to be.

This comment has been made about some
of the complex proposed reforms in bank regulation, which,
in revised form, are due to replace the old guidelines for
effective bank supervision. Having said that, it is now widely
accepted that the countries with the soundest financial systems
record the most stable and sustainable growth rates. The health
of the financial system is often a mirror of public confidence
in governance policies and, accordingly, all financial entities
should be guided by the best governance practices. Corporate
governance banks must be greater because their operations
are more difficult for shareholders and creditors to monitor
and because the consequences of failure are greater. Consequently,
the quality of supervision and regulation in the financial
sector are especially important. The performance of pension
funds and mutual funds is also important. The soundness of
pension funds must be assured since this has implications
for the well-being of older citizens, who will never have
that earning power again, and is especially serious in countries
where state-run pension schemes do not deliver ample support.
Mutual funds, which have also grown in importance in recent
years, also need to be subjected to proper governance. They
allow small investors to participate in the stock market by
spreading the associated risks. It is incumbent upon regulators,
fund managers and other principals to ensure that they uphold
the highest standards of governance in the interest of safeguarding
their clients' money.

Another compelling reason for good
governance is the expanding role of credit rating agencies
in investment decisions. Because bilateral lending has declined,
and risk weights have been introduced which bias banks against
lending to developing countries, developing countries have
had to go to the open market to borrow. Having a good credit
rating became more important. These agencies are increasingly
asking questions about governance as they seek to assess countries'
creditworthiness. Most importantly, poor corporate governance
is costly. It is estimated that after the Asian crisis the
fiscal costs of meeting the financial obligations of commercial
banks in Indonesia exceeded 100 per cent of the country's
GDP. The new corporate governance criteria that are emerging
raise a number of issues. I will just flag a few. 1. Is there
the risk that legislators will over-react or have over-reacted
and that this could lead to setbacks for the development of
financial expertise and corporate innovation, much of which
is positive? 2. Will the increased tendency to personal liability
of directors open them to litigation and is this likely to
lead to the higher quality directors who value their reputations,
declining requests to become directors of some boards? What
is the implication of charges against directors? Will companies
be saddled with high insurance premiums in order to indemnify
directors? 3. While new concepts and technologies have emerged
and are emerging to deal with today's complexities, how complex
should regulation be? Or how user friendly? What will be the
unit cost of regulation for small entities? Will they be competed
out of business by the high unit cost of regulation? Good
governance can be greatly improved by transparency, accountability
and appropriate regulatory oversight and the removal of moral
hazard from executive compensation. How does greater rule
making mesh with the pressures for liberalisation?

These are some of the questions which
will, I am sure, be discussed over the next day-and-a-half.
As we attempt to anticipate every eventuality in the new era
of corporate governance, we must not fail to emphasise ethics,
for where the rules fail to anticipate every eventuality,
it is ethics and a sense of accountability which will assure
good governance. I would like to close with quotations from
two other speakers who are here today: Catherine Bromilow,
writing on this topic observes that "effective boards
strike a balance based on a clear distinction between the
role of the board and that of management. While the board
provides oversight and strategic insights while avoiding 'micro
managing' or dramatically slowing the strategic decision-making
process". Christopher Chu and Steve Hanke, (Professor
Hanke is also with us today) observed that "under no
circumstances should Enron's failure be used as an excuse
to enact policies and regulations aimed at eliminating risk-taking
and economic failure". The discipline of corporate governance
is at a very important juncture.

From Barbados Advocate, West Indies, 29
April 2003

Civil Servants To Enjoy New Salaries

Alhaji Yakubu Ziblim, President of
the Civil Servants Association, said on Wednesday that negotiations
on a new salary scale for the Civil Service with retrospective
effect from February, this year had been concluded with government.
Speaking at the launching of "The Civil Servant"
a journal of the Association in Accra, he did not mention
the percentage of the increase, which according to him was
a secret. He said, however, that negotiations on other allowances,
especially Cap 30, which was for pension, were still going
on. Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, Minister for Tourism and the Modernisation
of the Capital, who launched the journal called on workers
to let their voices be heard to move the country forward.
He asked them to contribute articles that would generate reflection
and thought to the journal, which is the mouthpiece of the
Association. Obetsebi Lamptey acknowledged the importance
of civil servants, saying, "without them a country would
find it difficult to manage its affairs". "You cannot
have a good private sector as an engine of growth without
a good public sector, and be able to sustain the government's
golden age business policy," he said. Obetsebi-Lamptey
noted that good journals survived on reputation built over
the years for expressing clear thoughts, adding that, the
Association should take advantage of the repeal of the criminal
libel law to lead a new type of journalism.

From GhanaWeb, Ghana, 10 April 2003

Ondo PDP Frowns at
Government Use of Civil Servants as Vote Canvassers

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)
has expressed concern over the alleged drafting of top civil
servants by the Ondo State Government into the field as vote
canvassers and mobilisers in various towns and villages. The
party's worries were expressed in a statement signed by Sola
Akinuli on behalf of the Publicity Committee of Agagu 2003,
noting that civil servants should be unbiased and should not
be smeared by the murky waters of partisan politics. According
to the PDP, Governor Adebayo Adefarati, was the first governor
to kick against the Supreme Court judgment which allowed civil
servants' participation in politics. "The sudden change
of position and recent mobilisation of top civil servants
as canvassers in the wards is not only worrisome but also
shocking", the PDP said. While the party recognises the
right of every citizen to political association, it called
on partisan civil servants to steer clear of ad hoc jobs since
the civil service serves as pool where most ad hoc staff are
recruited. Meanwhile, the PDP governorship candidate for Ondo
State, Olusegun Agagu, has promised that his government would
give special incentives to teachers posted to rural areas.
Speaking during campaign tour of Odigbo Local Government Area,
Agagu promised that his administration would pay attention
to welfare of teachers in general adding, those who needed
to be retrained would be given the opportunity to do so. Agagu
assured the people that the PDP's free education programme
would be with a difference because it would be qualitative.
Lamenting the poor state of rural roads in the state, the
PDP candidate said the roads would be rehabilitated while
farmers would be given priority attention as they would be
assisted on land preparation. He promised that the PDP government
would build at least one silo for storage of farm products
in each of the three senatorial district of the state.

From Daily Times of Nigeria, Nigeria, by
James Sowole, 7 April 2003

New Prison Warders
Urged to Root Out Corruption

Pretoria - Correctional services has
cautioned new recruits in the department to resist the temptation
to be corrupt. 'Be strong and resist temptations. (You must)
realise that by allowing yourself to be influenced by them
(unreliable colleagues, criminals or prisoners) you may be
changing roles from being a rehabilitator to being an offender,'
said Mr. Watson Tshivhase, the department's deputy national
commissioner, speaking during the graduation ceremony of 490
departmental officials at the Kroonstad Training College in
the Free State yesterday. He added that by rooting out crime
and corruption, the new recruits would be building a peoples
contract for a better South Africa. The department has been
dogged by corruption in recent months, prompting Minister
Ben Skosana to request President Thabo Mbeki to institute
a commission of inquiry into prisons in the country after
it was alleged that some warders accepted bribes from prisoners
and organised escapes. President Mbeki then appointed the
Jali Commission of inquiry for this reason, which has been
hailed as a success. Some of the recommendations of the commission
have led to many officials being suspended and/or dismissed.

The Jali commission is also part of
the department greater strategic plan to move away from the
old system to a new prison management approach. Prisoner rehabilitation
and addressing overcrowding in prisons are some of the priorities
identified in this regard. Mr. Tshivhase said the new officials
should acquaint themselves with the department's new strategic
direction and its operational plans to be successful in their
roles as rehabilitators of prisoners. '...Being a correctional
officer is not a career, it is a calling. It calls for men
and women of strong character, of total commitment and unquestionable
integrity. Your time will mainly be spent with those that
have failed the community. But you chose to become a rehabilitator,'
he told the new recruits. He warned the new recruits that:
'Only those who can appreciate the difference and... pursue
their responsibilities with commitment and dedication, will
make a success.' The new officials will join about 34 000
staff members. Most of the existing staffers are now undergoing
re-training as the department embarks on an extensive plan
to rehabilitate prisoners so that they can be integrated into
society.

From AllAfrica.com, Africa, 17 April 2003

Transparency Crucial
for Nepad's Success

The New Partnership for Africa's Development
(Nepad) will fail if transparency and accountability do not
form part of the process. This was the warning from Daryl
Balia, the Chairperson of Transparency International South
Africa. He was speaking to delegates at the African Investment
Forum in Johannesburg. Balia says while the aim of the forum
is to engage African governments and business on advancing
Nepad, there needs to be clear monitoring mechanisms especially
for the private sector. "When for example we talk about
the peer review mechanism that there are safeguards in place
that will ensure transparency and accountability to the people
of Africa. For this reason we would like to see a greater
involvement of civil society in the monitoring process,"
Balia says, adding: "We don't believe it should be left
to our leaders alone. I think they have failed us miserably
in the past and we have nothing to go by to believe it is
going to get better in future." However, this is what
the African Investment Forum aims to do: build a partnership
between African governments and business to strengthen Nepad.
Balia nevertheless regards even this co-operation, with a
measure of suspicion. "The truth of the matter is that
business has failed us. We have seen countless acts of corruption
that have been perpetrated by these giant multinational companies
that are now queuing up to form partnerships with governments
in the interests of Nepad."

Transparency International is perhaps
best known for the release of its annual Corruption Perception
Index. Many financial institutions and major multi-nationals
use the index as an indication of the risks involved in investing,
especially in Africa. The flip side is who assesses these
companies? Balia says the track record of some corporates
in the third world highlights the need for sound ethical guidelines.
"If you look at for example the petroleum gas companies,
we have evidence that they have major transactions involved
in bribery and corruption. And especially when it comes to
the awarding of contracts if you look at our global corruption
report we have stories that will make you shiver." Balia
adds that: "If you look at some of the big water companies,
if you look at some of the forestry deals, there are questions
being raised. We are saying what makes us think that you are
going to be behaving any differently now. The only way this
can be done is if these businesses do certain fundamental
ethical principles." Balia contends that tackling corruption
is the first step to securing a positive investment climate
for Nepad and Africa. Nepad is expected to come under the
spotlight again tomorrow. Wiseman Nkuhlu, the Head of the
Nepad Steering Committee, is scheduled to chair a meeting
on private sector involvement in Nepad's peer review mechanism.

From SABC News, South Africa, 8 April 2003

BDP Pre-Vetting Eliminates
'Civil Servants'

The pre-vetting guidelines for the
Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) have dealt a crucial blow
to the aspirations of its 'civil servants' members who wish
to stand for parliamentary elections. At its recent National
Council, party and state president, Festus Mogae, announced
that the party had set a deadline of 19 and 29 May for applications
for parliamentary candidates. This date, according to those
civil servants whose eyes are set on standing for parliamentary
elections, is too soon and gives them little options if any
to make their moves. For one, they will have to quit their
jobs as soon as possible if they have to beat the deadline
and yet they will have minimal time to prepare or campaign.
BDP chairman, Ponatshego Kedikilwe, told Mmegi that it was
up to those civil servants wishing to stand to adjust to the
party's programme. "Being a civil servant is not imprisonment
and I do not see why they cannot adjust," he quipped.
Moreover, campaigning of any form such as the distribution
of campaign materials or the use of public address systems
for the same before the vetting exercise is prohibited. Some
say sitting members of parliament and councillors are having
the lion's share because they can use their positions to make
their wishes of seeking re-election known.

Johannes Malepeng, who has set his
eyes on the Tswapong North constituency seat where he will
flex his muscles against the incumbent Thebe Mogami and a
host of other new entrants, said the new party guidelines
are a disadvantage to them compared to the sitting MPs. "I
am not happy with it. We already know that (MP Tebelelo) Seretse
and (specially-elected MP Pelonomi) Venson are going to stand
for Serowe South and so are Kedikilwe or Ian Khama but for
us the new candidates how do we make our candidature known?
It is unfair for us," he said. Malepeng is already serving
notice at Kalahari Conservation Society where he is working
so that he can meet the deadline and enter politics. But he
is also aware that things could go wrong if the vetting process
throws out his application or that of others after they would
have quit their jobs. "That is politics. You can lose
but your work for the party should continue. Maybe you can
try and get another job," he added. Civil servants wishing
to beat the May 19 and 20 BDP deadline for applications to
stand as parliamentary candidates will have to quit their
jobs by May. The vetting process would take place on June
23-26 and the results would be announced the following day.
The primary elections would follow on November 27."We
will only be able to start campaigning after the vetting process.
That gives us only five months. That is not enough,"
said Malepeng.

From Mmegi, Botswana, 22 April 2003

Civil Servants' Salaries
Set for Review

Nairobi - Civil Servants' terms of
service, including salaries, will soon be reviewed. But an
assistant minister said this would depend on the Cabinet's
adoption of a new Planning and National Development policy
aimed at improving the terms. The policy recommendations are
soon to be presented to the Cabinet. The review will not benefit
all the civil servants, however; some may have their salaries
reduced as the Government sorts out income discrepancies in
the 22 ministries. Mr. Morris Dzoro of the Office of the President
in charge of the Public Service said yesterday the policy
would streamline the salaries and allowances. Mr. Dzoro said
retrenchment undertaken in public service namely defence,
Teachers Service Commission, local authorities and parastatals
was expected to save the government millions of shillings.
"The long term savings from a reduced work force, lower
running costs and more efficient operations will be available
to increase personnel emoluments and public capital investments,"
he added.

From AllAfrica.com, Africa, 22 April 2003

Agagu Raises Alarm
Over Plans to Flood Ondo Civil Service With New Appointments

The Governor-elect of Ondo state, Dr.
Olusegun Agagu, yesterday raised alarm over plans by out-going
administration of governor Adebayo Adefarati to flood the
civil service with new appointments and to pay severance allowance
to political office holders before May 29 this year. Dr Agagu
however, declared that his administration would send packing
such people that were appointed by the out-going administration
while permanent secretaries who sign vouchers to pay severance
allowances would refund such monies. The governor-elect, speaking
through the Coordinator of Agagu 2003 organisation, Professor
Olu Agbi, told newsmen in Akure that there are incontrovertible
evidence of plan to embark on massive and unprecedented recruitment
of new workers by the outing administration. Dr. Agagu added
that the new workers are to be employed between now and May
29 and that "it is part of the plan to put financial
strain on the Agagu administration."Continuing, the governor-elect
noted that part of "the plan is to back date some of
these appointments to justify this dastardly act."

Speaking on the plan to pay severance
allowance to political offices holders in the state, Dr. Agagu
said that some top civil servants complained to him that pressure
are on them to connive with the political office holders to
pay the allowances before their exit in May 29. "It is
statutorily wrong for them to be paid before May 29, infact,
it is the incoming government that should pay them, all these
plans are meant to create problems for the in-coming government.
"Any of the permanent secretaries who collaborates with
the potitical office holders would be made to make refund
of the monies after taking them to court." Dr. Agagu
also alleged that contract papers and payment vouchers are
being destroyed to cover-up inflated contracts that may implicate
the state governor and his aides. "I like to seize this
opportunity to remind any civil servant in whose custody these
contract papers and payment vouchers are kept that destruction
of government records is a criminal offence that attracts
punishment. "I like to also emphasis for the avoidance
of doubt that offenders in any guise shall be made to feel
the full weight of the law," he threatened Other allegations
against the out-going governor and his commissioners and aides
include removal and looting government properties, panic award
of contracts and withdrawal and transit of funds and the rush
to conduct local government elections on Saturday May 10,
this year. Dr. Agagu however, said that the incoming PDP-controlled
government in the state is committed to good governance, transparency
and honesty.

From AllAfrica.com, Africa, by Dayo Johnson,
25 April 2003

Civil Servants Told
to Reform and Help Curb Corruption

Public servants have been asked to
reform and join the fight against corruption. The Permanent
Secretary for Governance and Ethics, Mr. John Githongo, said
yesterday that civil servants should learn from the past after
being used by politicians as a rubber-stamp and then made
sacrificial lambs. "We as civil servants ended up paying
the price after receiving instructions from politicians to
engage in corrupt deals," he said. His office would defend
public servants who refused to be intimidated by politicians
seeking favours, Mr. Githongo added. He was speaking at Egerton
University when he opened a workshop for integrity assurance
officers. The workshop was organised by the Public Service
Integrity Programme, and was attended also by the head of
the Anti-Corruption Police Unit, Mr. Gideon Mutua, and Rift
Valley Deputy PC Benjamin Rotich. The PS said it was the duty
of the government to ensure prudent use of public resources
and that the public service performed efficiently and effectively.
He pointed out that corruption and unethical behaviour caused
inefficiency and waste. Corruption, he added, tended to reduce
the government resources for the provision of public services.
Mr. Githongo said the government was introducing a result-oriented
management style, which would emphasise better services. He
said an accountable and transparent public service would be
less likely to be wasteful. He added that many parastatal
board members and chief had in the past abdicated their responsibilities.

From Daily Nation, Kenya, 29 April 2003

We Need
Same Level of Accountability from All Agencies

Recent actions taken by several autonomous
agencies that have cost Guam's taxpayers millions of dollars
have highlighted the need for those agencies to be subject
to stricter financial controls. Some autonomous agency heads
and boards have reasoned that because they aren't appropriated
money from the General Fund, that they aren't subject to the
same restrictions and checks that are placed on line agencies.
This rationale has led to: The airport spending: $2.1 million
on 12 bronze statues and the design of a VIP lounge; $1.25
million on a exhibit of Chinese terra cotta statues; $1.3
million on the Birdman Rally; $500,000 in travel in the first
three months of this fiscal year; and picking up part of the
cost of a New Year's Eve party for former President Bill Clinton.
The Guam Economic Development Authority: approving $1.5 million
for a group to lobby for federal money for Guam; giving the
go-ahead for a lease to an off-island company to develop Tiyan
and then giving them thousands of dollars after the lease
was canceled by law; and the signing of the controversial
incinerator contract, which is still in court.

These are just a few of the more blatant
examples, most of which took place at a time when the government,
because of its ongoing financial crisis, could ill afford
to waste any money at all. While autonomous agencies may not
be directly supported by taxpayer money, they do use public
assets, resources and funds. Whether they like it or not,
these entities are agencies of the government of Guam, and
are spending the people's money, and thus must be made to
follow the same government procurement policies as do line
agencies. It's a necessary measure that will instill a greater
degree of fiscal responsibility, accountability and transparency
in the spending of public money, and also will dramatically
reduce the potential for waste and abuse. The people of Guam,
especially during these dire financial times, deserve no less
from their public servants, with the operative word being
"servants."

From Agana Pacific Daily News, GU, 5 AprIL
2003

400 Public Servants
Told to Quit Private Firms

The Territory government yesterday
intensified its crackdown on executive conflicts of interest.
About 400 Territory-wide high-level public servants will be
banned from holding directorships in private companies involved
in any NT government contracts. Chief Minister Clare Martin
told the Northern Territory News yesterday the changes aimed
to prevent conflicts of interest, both real and perceived.
"The new rules on directorships in private companies
makes a clear statement of the standards we expect,"
Ms Martin said. "The NTPS must be open and accountable
and, more importantly, be beyond reproach or question by the
public. We want to avoid any potential for conflicts of interest,
or unfair practices, that could damage the reputation of a
department." Ms Martin said the NT Public Service code
of conduct would be strengthened to accommodate the changes.
The code, which already requires disclosure of private financial
and business dealings, will now force public servants to officially
register their interests. The decision follows a government
investigation into Health Department assistant secretary Stephen
Moo, who was also a director of Modular Medical Products Pty
Ltd. The company has won nearly 100 health department contracts,
worth millions of dollars. Mr. Moo, who has been told to divest
his interests in the company or quit his job, was last week
cleared of any conflict of interest.

From Northern Territory News, Australia,
by Paul Dyer, 13 April 2003

Rotation Not Affecting
Sabah Civil Service

Although the State experiences a change
of leadership every two years under the Chief Minister rotation
system, there has been continued assurance of non-political
interference in the Civil Service. State Secretary Datuk KY
Mustafa on Monday said the Civil Service has been accorded
high recognition and good treatment since the Barisan Nasional
(BN) took over the helm of the State Government about nine
years ago. "The Civil Service has been given the freedom
and leeway to function fully and discharge their duties and
responsibilities in implementing the Government's policies
and planned development programmes," he told Daily Express.
As head of the State Civil Service, Mustafa noted that his
views and advice have always been taken into account, concerning
each matter that involves the Civil Service. "We greatly
appreciate this gesture. We are grateful to the Government
leadership who has so far never cast doubts on the professionalism
of the Civil Service and our characteristics of openness and
ability to receive sincere and constructive advice,"
he said. The State Secretary expressed the hope that this
ideal and harmonious working atmosphere will be perpetuated
to maintain the smoothness and efficiency in the Government
administration.

To reciprocate the Government's understanding
and high respect for the professionalism of the Civil Service,
Mustafa urged each member of the Civil Service to multiply
their efforts in executing their duties with more sincerity,
dedication, credibility, transparency and a sense of responsibility.
He assured that the Civil Service would support Chief Minister
Datuk Musa Aman's directions and translate them into actions
"so that the fruits are enjoyed by the State and people."
Mustafa described the Government and the Civil Service as
partners in ensuring that all plans and the formulation of
policies are implemented fully. "The Government and the
Civil Service are two institutions that need each other. We
must uphold and promote this relationship at all times. "If
both parties don't understand each other's role and can't
co-operate, then it will jeopardise administration and national
development." Given their knowledge, experience and expertise,
he likened civil servants to being advisers to the ruling
Government. "Members of the Civil Service must be courageous
enough to provide advice and views in an open, sincere and
professional manner in the interest of the State and people,"
he said.

While conceding that the advice given
may be opposed to what is desired by some government leaders,
Mustafa said this does not mean that civil servants disobey
government directives. "Whether the advice concerned
is accepted or otherwise, is a second question. What is more
important is that the civil servants have carried out their
responsibilities professionally." The State Secretary
made it clear that the Civil Service is not exempted from
open criticisms, given the wrongdoings by a number of its
members. "There had been weaknesses in the management
of public administration, for example, delay in providing
responses to those concerned or taking certain actions, managing
government contracts or agreements without complying with
regulations or contravening policies. "All this had caused
the Government to bear a huge financial burden," he pointed
out. Saying that civil servants receive reprimands with an
open heart, Mustafa emphasised the need to rectify weaknesses
and be more cautious to avert a recurrence of past mistakes.

From Daily Express, Malaysia, by Kota Kinabalu,
15 April 2003

Civil Servants Must
Understand General Orders

Kuala Lumpur - Heads of department
in every government department need to find ways to ensure
government employees fully understand the contents of the
General Orders governing civil servants, Chief Secretary to
the Government Tan Sri Samsudin Osman said Monday. He said
this was necessary to prevent problems that affected the credibility
and duties of government employees, especially involving political
issues. All instructions in the General Orders were complete
and hence, there was no question whether to have more detailed
guidelines on the rights of civil servants to be involved
in politics, he said. "The matter is clearly stated.
Heads of department and officers have explained on who can
be active in politics and those who cannot," he told
reporters after launching E-Library User Education, here.
Samsudin said this when asked to comment on whether there
was a need for the General Orders to be fine-tuned on the
definition for civil servants to be involved in politics following
a fight between the Kelantan Fire and Rescue Department Director
and Kota Baharu Umno division chief Zaid Ibrahim early this
month. He did not rule out the possibility that some civil
servants did not fully apprehend the instructions in the General
Orders. Hence, the government had implemented other ways like
holding monthly meetings for heads of federal department to
ensure government policies were enforced efficiently, he said.
Samsudin also said heads of department were required to go
down to the ground to monitor and ensure that every directive
issued was understood and implemented. On the level of general
knowledge and information technology (IT) among government
employees, he said the newly-introduced Skim Saraan Malaysia
(SSM) required them to improve their knowledge and skills
in the two fields. He said there is an improvement in general
knowledge and IT as every department and ministry cannot avoid
from using IT equipment.

From Daily Express, Malaysia, 22 April 2003

Civil Servants to Get
More Training on e-Government

The effort to ensure that civil servants
are ready and have the know-how to operate in the new e-Government
format is now being stepped up through the Civil Service Institute
or IPA. Also in place and continuously refined and upgraded
is the move to increase efficiency, productivity and quality
of service in the present government machinery through training
and retraining programs. "During the past 12 months of
last year only some 51 courses and training programmes on
human resource development, IT, quality and productivity were
conducted for 4,818 participants that comprise civil servants
from various government agencies". "This year the
number of programmes and courses provided is increasing. From
January to April this year some 42 programmes and courses
have already been conducted", said the Director of IPA,
Dr. Awang Azahairaini bin Haji Mohd Jamil. He said about half
of these programmes and courses were designed to provide the
participants with new knowledge and know-how on ICT. "The
aim is not only to help participants to increase their computer
literacy but also on how to make IT a culture in the government
community," said the Director of IPA. "This is in
line with the government's effort to gear up the civil servants
towards the eventual formation of the e-Government machinery,"
he added in an interview with the Bulletin yesterday. He said
that running parallel to this effort is also the ongoing programme
to increase the productivity, efficiency and quality of service
of the civil service.

However, Dr Azahairaini conceded that
the big challenge for IPA is not just in providing the human
resource development programmes and training courses to participants.
"Our concerned in IPA has been always the effectiveness
of our programmes and training courses in meeting the need
of the public sector to have efficient, effective, customer-oriented
and dynamic civil service. On the other hand we are also dealing
with the bigger issue of changing mindset". In this context,
IPA is apparently setting the pace to do its housekeeping
first and change the mindset of its own community. According
to Dr. Azahairaini, a new organisational structure has already
been put in place in IPA. Now five sections, namely, the Training
and Development, the Support Services Section, the Administration
and Management Section, Research and Development and the MIS
and ICT Section, support IPA. IPA has also drawn up a five-year
strategic plan to become one of the best institutes among
partners in Human Resource Development in the ASEAN region,"
explained the Director. "Our strategies are to improve
the efficiency and effectiveness of the administrative and
management systems of IPA, to develop staff expertise in specific
management, administration and ICT disciplines and to improve
the quality of HRD in accordance with the needs of customers".
"We would also strive to promote the IPA's services and
programmes to Civil Service and where appropriate, other agencies
involved in national development. Also on the agenda is to
improve the capacity of IPA as a resource centre in the areas
of management, public administration and ICT", said the
Director.

From Brudirect.com, by Malai Hassan Othman,
22 April 2003

Solomons Government
Negotiates on Public Service

A general strike by civil servants
in Solomon Islands has been called off. General secretary
of Solomon Islands Public Employees Union, Clement Waiwori,
says the cancellation resulted from a last minute decision
by the government to discuss the union's grievances. The union
is demanding the settlement of outstanding redundancy payments
to its members, pay increases and other service benefits.
Mr. Waiwori says 1,500 civil servants have not been paid redundancy
packages since the government implemented structural reforms.
The union says the retail price index on the cost of goods
had increase nearly 50 per cent over the past five years while
salaries remain the same.

From Radio Australia, Australia, 22 April
2003

WA Government May Issue
Cash for Public Servant Ideas

Public sector workers in Western Australia
could receive cash payouts or royalties for ideas that generate
commercial revenue for the Government. The incentive scheme,
designed to reward innovation, forms part of a revised Government
policy on intellectual property rights to be released by State
Development Minister Clive Brown. Mr. Brown says public sector
workers will not be able to cash in on just any idea, only
those that create new income for the state. "The clear
idea here is this.... where the state receives additional
funds as the result of an idea coming from a public sector
worker being commercialised and drawing income for the state
that the employee should be appropriately rewarded as a result
of the additional income that the state receives as a result
of that idea," he said.

From ABC Online, Australia, 22 April 2003

No Compromise on Errant
Civil Servants: Musa

There is no room for compromise for
leaders and public service officers who go against the directives
of the Integrity Management Committee (IMC), said Chief Minister
Datuk Musa Aman. "The level of compliance in the public
service (in Sabah) is good but there is still room for improvement,"
he said. "It is imperative that public service officers
carry out their duties cleanly, efficiently and honestly so
that it would not impair the whole system," he said after
opening the national Integrity Management Committee Secretariat
meeting at Pacific Wing Sutera Harbour Resort and Spa, here
Monday. Musa, who is also State Finance Minister, said those
found committing breach of trust must be dealt with accordingly
and that the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) must step in. "We
are not looking for small fish, even the big fish, we don't
care who you are. If you are wrong, action will be initiated,"
he said when asked whether there have been cases of officers
or Cabinet members being investigated for corruption. He said
that if there were reports, then the ACA was free to investigate.
To a question, he said all Cabinet members and senior civil
servants had all this while been directed to declare their
assets. In his speech, he said the approach to keeping the
pressure on to achieve the IMC's main objective in all leadership
levels, including political, must be intensified. "I
myself will not compromise with issues that lead to the decimation
of the directives," he said. The IMC was established
under the directive of the Prime Minister in 1998 to, among
others, maintain the country's public service performance,
which in 1995 was adjudged as the fourth best among 48 countries
in a research conducted by the World Economic Forum and International
Institute for Management.

Among its specific focuses are to overcome
weaknesses, especially in government fund management, public
administration, handling of disciplinary cases, corruption
and abuse of power as well as those prohibited by the regulations,
laws and religion, he said. In the Sabah context, he said
the effort to transform the civil service was intensified
in 1999 through the Reinventing the Government initiative.
"The Leadership Programme and Succession Planning through
the Executive Development Programme was also introduced this
year in a bid to create a pool of leaders and managers for
the future public service," he said. Musa said history
had shown that many successful civilisations were based on
good virtues, but many of them were destroyed due to depleting
moral values and forgetting the teaching of religions. "It
is my opinion that the quality of leadership must be prepared
and enhanced in accordance with the need to meet with the
present and future challenges," he said. Leaders, he
said, must utilise the power entrusted to them transparently
and fairly, while having qualities that influence an organisation
to perform better and strengthen the working quality culture.
The State Government, he said, welcomed the efforts by the
Federal Government in bolstering the Government's integrity
management. "Corporate governance, which is closely related
to integrity in business dealings, has always been my guide
as a corporate member before I become a State Cabinet member,"
he said. Musa hoped the IMC meeting in Sabah would be able
to reach resolutions via a more realistic and pragmatic mind
frame in the bid to tidy up the public administration machinery
leading to integrity in managing the Government.

From Daily Express, Malaysia, 28 April 2003

Have a Multi-Racial
Civil Service

Kuala Lumpur - The gap between Malays
and non-Malays in the civil service, the police force and
armed forces is steadily growing and the Government must tackle
the problem before it worsens, prominent individuals said
today. Many said in interviews the lack of non-Malays working
in these sectors was a worrying trend that needed to be addressed
otherwise Malaysia's unity among the races could be compromised.
Sunway Group corporate adviser Tan Sri Dr Ramon Navaratnam
said the fact that most government offices had very few or
no Chinese or Indian officers at all created a psychological
problem for non-Malay citizens from small towns who wanted
help for their problems or complaints. "They feel alienated.
From a national unity point of view, they might feel more
comfortable with civil servants of their own race around and
feel that there is more empathy," he said. He also spoke
on the necessity of having a multi-racial civil service since
one that is predominantly of one race could result in "inbreeding"
or "cross pollination", where workers would feed
on each others' weaknesses and destroy their strengths. "The
problem is that there is a psychological bias and a preference
for Malay workers although that may not be the recruitment
policy. "We need fair competition or a quota system otherwise
the trend will get worse, and it becomes like a steam engine
that we must slow down," he said.

He added that promotions also had to
be fair and competitive. He urged the Government to implement
reverse affirmative policies as soon as possible. The need
for reverse policies was also echoed by historian Prof Datuk
Khoo Kay Kim, although he said the change had to be gradual.
"The process has taken a generation and there is no need
to push the attempt when currently many Malays still feel
affirmative action should continue. "No one should feel
threatened in the process of reversal," he said. He said,
however, that the trend of Malays dominating the public sector
and non-Malays in the private sector had to be addressed as
the gap was "growing wider" and "it never used
to be this bad". "It is difficult for non-Malays
to get recruited as their applications are not selected and
after some time they think it is pointless to apply. "Even
if they get in, promotions are very slow so there are few
prospects," he said. The Government, he said, would have
to decide if it wanted things to go on like this as the trend
posed problems such as Malaysia losing its talent to other
countries. "Non-Malays now look for opportunities outside
the country and they will go because the doors are open to
them.

Singapore has been taking (our talent)
on a very large scale." Various problems such as graduates
of public universities having a weak grasp of the English
language and students competing only against their own ethnic
groups were also a result of the policy, he added. Cuepacs
president Datuk N. Siva Subramaniam said the Government could
not sit back and think the lack of non-Malays in the civil
sector and other professions was "just because of poor
response". "They must check the situation because
from the feedback we get from many people, it is not because
non-Malays do not apply, but because they are not considered
at all. "It disappoints them because they have good qualifications
but they cannot get in." He said there could also be
a possibility of some heads of department having their own
agenda. There should be at least 10 per cent of non-Malays
working in the civil service, he said, as it was commonplace
for offices to be non-functional during holiday seasons for
Malays. "There must be some staff, the situation has
to be controlled," Siva Subramaniam said. "The civil
service has to be a professional service and if the 10 per
cent is not there, something is wrong," he said. "At
the same time, the private sector must take in more Malays,
to balance things up."

From New Straits Times, Malaysia, by Koh
Lay Chin, 29 April 2003

Spoils System: No Removal of Civil
Service Managers

Rome - The investigative commission
of Lazio decreed as illegitimate law 145/02 that calls for
the removal of managers within the civil service each time
the government changes hands. The Administrative Tribunal
rejected the expression "spoils system" as not pertaining
to the Italian language, the official language of public acts.
Additionally, the law in question violates, "the independence
and partiality" required of managers in the civil service
as per the Constitution, subjecting them to political power.
The law on the spoils system therefore needs to be re-interpreted.
A removal must be tied to the concept of technical trust of
management who "must not operate as unfaithful tools
that sabotage political objective." The unions are happy
with the outcome. Antonio Foccillo, federal secretary of the
Cisl labor union said, "public managers must be at the
service of all citizens and respond to election results based
on objective criteria and not on political identification.
Only in this way can the civil service be made more efficient."ext
Here

From Agenzia Giornalistica Italia, Italy,
11 April 2003

Depute Leader Calls
for Civil Service Jobs

Peeblesshire has the potential to become
a new centre for government employees. And Scottish Borders
Council's (SBC) Deputy Leader, David Parker, will be urging
the Scottish Executive to mirror Chancellor Gordon Brown's
Budget commitment to reform the civil service down south.
Mr. Parker feels that parts of Peeblesshire - particularly
Innerleithen and Walkerburn - are potentially suitable for
economic growth and development. And he is now pressing the
Scottish Executive to follow the example of Mr. Brown, who
boosted the government's long-standing drive to set up more
offices outside London during his Budget report. Mr. Parker
said:" In England and Wales, the Chancellor has announced
a relocation of civil service jobs, and we will be urging
the Scottish Executive to continue its moves to devolve jobs
out of Edinburgh and Glasgow, and into other parts of the
country. "Although we have the Public Pensions Agency
at Tweedbank, which is welcome, I would suggest that there
is definitely scope to have some kind of government facility
either in Peebles, Innerleithen or Walkerburn." With
regard to Innerleithen and Walkerburn, he continued: "There
is certainly ground for development there as there are buildings
that are not being utilised to their full potential. "In
light of the Chancellor's wish to make radical changes in
England and Wales, we will certainly be encouraging the Scottish
Executive to bring something into Tweeddale," he added.
On the issue of fuel duty, Mr. Parker welcomed the Chancellor's
decision to defer an increase until October, but stressed
that in rural areas such as the Borders, any increase in fuel
duty would be unwelcome. He said: "An increase would
not be acceptable to us.

Firstly, because the vast majority
of people in the Borders own cars because they have to - given
the rural area of the region, and secondly, because of the
massive cost that it places on the Council, which in turn,
ends up on everyone's council tax bills. "In the Council,
we are also hit with all the vehicles we use, like trucks
and vans, as well as all the bus services to schools and so
on. "Additional fuel duty there would have a crippling
effect on us, as we would suffer more than other parts of
Scotland - that is why we will ask the Chancellor to look
at ways of compensating rural areas against the additional
costs that we have. "At the moment, motorists seems to
be hung, drawn and quartered everywhere they turn, and we
feel that we have a good case to argue, especially taking
our rural nature and depleting bus service into account."
Mr. Parker added: "Fuel poverty is becoming an issue
in the Borders because people need cars, and obviously, any
increase in fuel duty is not at all welcome at any time. "A
lower than average income in the Borders must also be taken
into consideration, although we welcome the move to increase
the minimum wage that the Chancellor has made."

Peeblesshire, and indeed the entire
Borders region, is widely recognised as having a large population
of pensioners, and although Mr. Parker was keen to acknowledge
Chancellor Brown's decision to allow the elderly to keep their
state benefit longer when they are in hospital, he blasted
the fact that heating allowances have not been extended to
all OAPs. "We would welcome the additional £100 in heating
allowances given to the over 80s, but are disappointed that
that has not been extended to all pensioners," he said.
While welcoming the government's drive to tackle environmental
issues by increased recycling, Mr. Parker felt that the announced
rise in landfill tax will debilitate SBC's resources. He explained:
"On the worrying side, although we welcome the push for
recycling, the fact that the landfill tax is going up by a
tonne, both now and over the next five years, will add a huge
burden in costs to the Council, and we will be asking central
government to be a little bit more pro-active in providing
finance to help us recycle. "On the continent there is
a whole range of measures that central government takes to
encourage recycling, and that is usually backed up with money.
"We would certainly be asking the Scottish Executive
to look very closely at funding for recycling, which we are
very keen to do," he added. During the Chancellor's Budget
report, he also hinted at implementing measures to help small
businesses, including streamlining the tax system. Praising
the move, Mr. Parker said: "We would welcome anything
that helps small business."

From Peeblesshire News, UK, by Craig Finlay,
11 April 2003

London Exodus for Civil
Servants

20,000 face transfer - Row over pay
looms - An exodus of civil servants from London is being planned
on a scale not seen since Harold Wilson decreed large scale
dispersal from Whitehall in the 1960s. The government wants
to cut the number in the capital by a quarter of its 90,000.
The chancellor said private sector firms had successfully
relocated out of the south east. While past reviews had led
to over 10,000 jobs being transferred out of London, the chancellor
estimated yesterday that another 20,000 could follow - "to
the benefit of the whole country". More controversially,
new measures are being prepared to break national pay-bargaining
and link public sector pay to local markets and economies,
where the cost of living is often lower than London and the
south east. Pay review bodies would get a new remit "to
take into account regional and local factors". This could
mean that, in pursuit of "flexibility" the Treasury
buzzword, some departments might effectively bribe officials
to move by adding new "weighting" elements to pay
in the regions. The Treasury said: "More locally responsive
public sector pay systems will ensure that low-paid workers
do not lose out, and service users across the country will
benefit from better public services". After a series
of meetings with the deputy prime minister to push the regional
issue higher up the government's agenda, the chancellor has
started an immediate review. He has asked Sir Michael Lyons,
director of the Institute of Local Government Studies at Birmingham
University, to make firm recommendations on which departments
and agencies could relocate.

His initiative has involved a joint
letter with John Prescott to the prime minister stressing
the importance of civil service relocation to achieve the
aim of more balanced economic growth between regions. Stressing
the urgency of the exercise Sir Michael, former chief executive
of Birmingham City Council, said last night: "The intention
is very clear, not to say what would be a good idea, but to
say what should be moved, and make specific recommendations."
Whitehall departments will have to submit what are called
updated workforce development plans so that Sir Michael's
team can produce a detailed report for the next spending review
in two years' time. This review is meant to implement the
promise made in last year's regional white paper ordering
Whitehall departments to "consider the balance"
of their staff. At present two thirds of all civil servants
are located outside London and the south east, a proportion
that has been growing in recent years. But there are more
civil servants in richer than poorer regions, despite the
relocation of big money processing functions to Shipley in
West Yorkshire and Longbenton outside Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
Some previous efforts at relocation have come unstuck. The
attempt to rebase the administration of the National Health
Service in Leeds was partly rescinded. George Morran, chair
of the Campaign for the Regions noted in response that relocating
staff "is not the same as devolving power and responsibility
for policy and public services".

From Guardian, UK, by David Walker and Peter
Hetherington, 9 April 2003

Hardship on April 16,
But Not For Civil Servants

Hoping to alleviate congestion in central
Athens during the April 16 European Union summit, when the
accession agreements of 10 new members - including Cyprus
- are to be signed, the government said it might declare the
day a public holiday for the city's civil servants. Following
an interministerial meeting on the summit yesterday chaired
by Premier Costas Simitis, government spokesman Christos Protopappas
added that security would be intense, and asked Athenians
to be forbearing. "Of necessity, they will experience
hardship," he said. "We must bear in mind that it
will be a great day, a day of celebration for Europe and Greece
in particular, due to the accession of Cyprus." Following
an informal EU summit at the Zappeion Hall, the accession
agreements will be signed at the Ancient Agora, in the reconstructed
second-century-BC Stoa of Attalos.

From Kathimerini, Greece, 5 April 2003

Public service Improvements
Promised by Labour

No one will wait more than 24 hours
to see their GP, dentist or optician if Labour wins the National
Assembly election, the party promised yesterday. Labour also
pledged to recruit 3,010 extra nurses and 410 more doctors
by 2007 and to cut class sizes within months of taking power.
The commitments are made in its Assembly election manifesto,
published yesterday. The document shows Labour is determined
to focus on improvements to public services, particularly
health and education, as it campaigns for an overall majority
in May's election. Other notable policies, on top of Labour's
10 key pledges unveiled last week, include halving the number
of children killed or injured on Wales's roads by 2010 and
appointing a commissioner for old people. A clear theme of
the manifesto is that a Labour-run Assembly works best with
a Labour Government at Westminster and Plaid Cymru or the
Conservatives would not get as good a deal from London. Writing
in the introduction First Minister Rhodri Morgan says, "The
fruits of our partnership with the UK Government means that
the budget we will be working with in two years' time will
be over £12.5bn."Labour has avoided making specific promises
on hospital waiting lists after failing to deliver on its
1999 commitment to wipe out long waits. It does however pledge
to continue to drive down waiting times in key areas.

The GP pledge is a brave if slightly
risky move. Labour's failure to meet its 1999 manifesto promise
to wipe out long hospital waits has given opposition parties
enormous ammunition to attack it. Other policies in the area
of health are to open two new clinical schools in North Wales
and Gwent and eradicate fuel poverty by 2010.On education
Labour promises to cut all junior classes to a maximum of
30 pupils by the end of the year. Labour also promises:* To
review the need for tests at key stages one and two;* A new
curriculum for three to seven-year-olds. Other eye-catching
policies include:* The goal to recycle 25% of municipal waste;*
To consider setting up a new national gallery of Welsh art;*
A further £27m invested in the Welsh language;* 135,000 more
jobs by 2010, with new opportunities for the over 50s, lone
parents, the disabled and ethnic minorities;* A £25m innovation
grant;* To explore the feasibility of a public service obligation
for a north-south air service;* To encourage schools and hospitals
to buy more Welsh produce;* Free breakfast for primary school
children and the abolition of prescription charges top Labour's
10 key pledges. Labour has also promised to rule-out top up
fees in Welsh universities for the next four-year term and
to scrap home care charges for disabled people.

From icWales, UK, 8 April 2003

Regional Inflation
Data Set to Influence Public-Sector Pay

Plans for regional inflation figures
may elevate different prices in different towns from a dull
talking point to an important tool for setting public-sector
salaries. The numbers should make it easier for employers
to tweak pay rates according to the cost of living in various
places. Such a system would mark a radical change to today's
pay rates, where only workers in London and parts of the south-east
tend to get a regional weighting. The Office for National
Statistics said no further details would be available until
this autumn, prompting the FT to undertake its own quick survey
of regional price differences. This showed huge variation
as measured by the high street bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich
- favoured by many as a lunchtime snack. The BLT, adopted
as an indicator emblematic of homegrown catering enterprise,
in contrast to the Big Mac used by some economists for international
comparisons, more than doubles in price as you travel south.
In Glasgow it cost as little as 90p, rising to £1 in Newcastle
and then soaring to £1.90 in Birmingham, before hitting a
giddy £2.30 in London. Similar trends are apparent in the
cost of a cup of tea, a pint of beer and a saloon car. But
variations in house prices are the real deal breaker for public-sector
employers trying to hire staff for lower-waged posts. In Glasgow
and Newcastle, a three-bed semi costs about £130,000, rising
to more than £200,000 in leafy suburbs of Birmingham, such
as Harborne.

In Muswell Hill, a London price hotspot
in recent years, the figure leaps to more than £400,000.One
problem statisticians will have to wrestle with is the enormous
disparity in prices found within some individual locations.
An example is Newcastle, a compact city where millionaires
and some of the Britain's poorest people inhabit parallel
universes, almost in walking distance of each other. Another
difficulty is that people live differently in different places.
In Glasgow there are very few of the typical Coronation Street
two-up two-downs that form the bottom rung of the property
ladder in many English towns. Most inner-city residents live
in tenements of the kind inhabited by the Broons, the eternal
Glaswegian family immortalised by cartoonist Dudley Watkins.
Regional price indices should be useful not just to employers,
but to the 20,000 public employees the government is planning
to transfer from the capital to bolster regional economies.
Many are likely to feel like collective farmers, relocated
to a frontier province by an Iron Curtain regime. The figures
should demonstrate that at least their money will go further
out in the boondocks.

From Financial Times, UK, by Jonathan Guthrie,
Chris Tighe and David Firn, 11 April 2003

Duma Votes to Rank
Civil Servants

The State Duma on Wednesday approved
a Kremlin-sponsored plan to rank civil service workers the
same way military officers are ranked in the army. But promotions
will be tied to how long the bureaucrats have worked in the
government, not to their job performance. "We have made
a mistake. We have created a bureaucratic police state,"
Boris Nadezhdin, deputy head of the Union of Rights Forces,
told reporters. His faction, Yabloko and the Communist Party
had pushed to amend the bill Wednesday but were outvoted by
pro-Kremlin factions led by Unity. Deputies passed the bill
243-148 in a second reading. There were two abstentions. The
draft law on the system of government service, which would
replace a 1995 law, is part of a Kremlin effort to streamline
bureaucracy and shed thousands of jobs. The legislation spells
out the rules of employment in Russia's bloated army of bureaucrats.
It allows vacancies to be filled on a competitive basis but
effectively allows bureaucrats serving in state agencies to
stay on until they reach retirement age regardless of their
performance, opponents said. The new legislation identifies
three types of state workers - bureaucrats, military personnel
and law enforcers - who are hired under contract.

Civil servants will be awarded ranks
like in the military and police, making it easy for those
in the army and police to find jobs as bureaucrats when they
retire and for regional officials to find federal jobs, said
Fatherland-All Russia Deputy Viktor Grishin, who heads the
Duma's regional policy committee. Other deputies complained
that while the bill is designed to slash the number of notoriously
corrupt bureaucrats and make their work more transparent,
the end result might be that the remaining workers aren't
properly qualified for their jobs. Nadezhdin said the bill
completely overlooks professionalism and competence in deciding
who gets promoted. "I guess we will end up with State
Fisheries Committee or Culture Ministry officials wearing
epaulets," he said. Union of Rights Forces Deputy Vladimir
Yuzhakov, who with Nadezhdin submitted dozens of amendments
to the bill, called the version passed Tuesday a lost opportunity.
"We could have created a basis for reforming government
service with this bill but instead have created the brakes
for the reform," he said. The Communists also lashed
out at the legislation, saying it will create a caste of bureaucrats.
"The bill places them above the law," Deputy Nikolai
Kolomeitsev said. Minutes before the vote Tuesday, deputies
took out a clause that bureaucrats could not be affiliated
with a political party. The bill still needs to be passed
in a final reading before it can be sent to the Federation
Council and President Vladimir Putin for their approval.

From Moscow Times, Russia, by Oksana Yablokova,
15 April 2003

Public Administration:
First Yes from Senate for Modernisation

First yes of the Senate to the bill
for modernising the public administration. The law, that is
on its way to the House for a definite 'yes', contains certain
norms on the administrative activity, that modify and integrate
the provisions which have been around since 1990. The bill
was voted for almost unanimously with negative votes only
from the Greens and the Reformed Commnist Party.

From Agenzia Giornalistica Italia, 11 April 2003

Civil Servants May
Move Out Of The Capital

More than 20,000 public-sector workers
could be transferred out of London as part of a package of
measures to boost the regions. The Chancellor announced that
he had asked Whitehall departments and other public bodies
to submit proposals for relocating staff by 2005. Gordon Brown
said 10,000 civil service posts had recently been moved out
of the capital and indicated that the more would be soon.
"Successful relocation out of London by private companies
suggests public-sector jobs transferred to regions and nations
could exceed 20,000, to the benefit of the whole economy,"
he said. Mr. Brown said that a regional price index would
be published to show variations in inflation rates. That move
follows a Whitehall review that found public-sector wages
varied far less by region than those in the private sector.
It said there was "significant scope" to make public-sector
pay more flexible. But Adam Price, Plaid Cymru's Treasury
spokesman, said the proposed index could be disastrous. "This
will create two-tier pay scales and will attract key workers
like nurses to relocate in the South-east of England, putting
further strain on an already overstretched NHS," he said.
Mr. Brown said an extension of regional science and industry
councils was being considered and, for the first time, the
nine English Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) had been
involved in preparatory work for the Budget. "The more
each of the UK's regions and Scotland, Wales and Northern
Ireland enter into global competition, the more we must encourage
them and help them harness their distinctive strengths, overcome
their weaknesses and, with a modern, locally led regional
policy, rise to the challenge of making their skills, innovation
and enterprise world-class," he said. Sir Graham, who
leads the RDAs on Treasury issues, said: "I'm pleased
the Treasury has considered our suggestions seriously. We
look forward to repeating this exercise in future years to
help the Government achieve sustainable economic growth in
all UK regions."

From Independent, UK, By Nigel Morris, 19
April 2003

Region Jobs in Civil
Service Move

The former head of Wolverhampton Council
will spearhead a move which could see more than 20,000 civil
service jobs transferred away from the south to the Midlands
and the north. Sir Michael Lyons will be in charge of a wide
ranging review to relocate public service jobs away from London
to the regions under an ambitious plan to save cash and give
areas away from the capital more power. Gordon Brown announced
the move in the Budget yesterday which will see Sir Michael
preside over the biggest shake-up in the civil service in
years. Sir Michael, who was chief executive at Wolverhampton
and is director of the Institute of Local Government Studies
at Birmingham University, was also a major player in the controversial
Bain review into firefighters' pay and conditions. Mr. Brown
said: "The Government will be examining the scope for
relocating civil service and other public service staff from
London and the south east to other parts of the country to
improve cost effectiveness and achieve a better regional balance
of government activity. "Successful relocation out of
London by private companies suggests public sector jobs transferred
to regions could excede 20,000 to the benefit of the whole
country." If the move goes ahead, it is expected that
hundreds of new jobs will become available in the Midlands,
even though though many staff will move with their jobs, West
Bromwich East MP Tom Watson said: "This is good news
for the whole of the West Midlands, Staffordshire and Shropshire.
"I expect that there will be jobs which become available
if this goes ahead because if jobs are transferred not everyone
will move away from the south. "It means more power for
the regions, which the Government has shown its commitment
to." The last relocation review of the civil service,
the Hardman Review, saw 10,000 jobs transferred out of London
to the regions.

From Wolverhampton, UK, by Anne Alexander,
10 April 2003

Scottish Public Spending
Highest in World

Scotland's government spending is set
to become the highest in the developed world, relative to
the country's economic size, as a result of Gordon Brown's
tax-and-spend bonanza. A study by The Scotsman has for the
first time placed Scotland in the international spending league
tables - and found it to be only months away from overtaking
Sweden for the top slot. This will torpedo the argument that
more funding will solve Scotland's problems - and expose the
fact that the Executive has been sitting on a world-class
budget for the past four years. The Scotsman has placed Scotland
in the 27-country league table compiled by the Organisation
for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). This measures
spending as a ratio of gross domestic product, the main measure
of national income. By next year, spending on Scotland by
Holyrood and Westminster is forecast to be £46 billion, or
53 per cent of Scotland's GDP. This would overtake Sweden
(51 per cent) and be well ahead of France (49 per cent), Germany
(45 per cent) and the rest of the UK (39 per cent). The disclosure
was met with a mixed response by the four main Holyrood parties
- all of whom propose at least one measure of further spending
increases in their manifestos.

The Scottish National Party said that
as the spending limit is set by Westminster, the question
should be whether Jack McConnell's administration could have
done more with the money. "People will be surprised that
we are paying more tax but are not seeing services improving,"
said Andrew Wilson, the SNP's economics spokesman. The Scottish
Conservatives, who have decided against spending cuts, said
the figures show Scotland has long had the money needed for
world-class public services. "Instead, we've had six
years of tax and waste and failure," said David McLetchie,
the party leader. "The size of government is swelling
in Scotland and the money is not reaching the people it's
intended for." He added that his recent canvassing has
led him to believe there is no longer public demand for more
spending. "I rarely hear people saying, 'If only we could
spend more.' They are saying, 'We are spending more and what
are we getting for it?'," he said. Andy Kerr, the finance
minister, said the international comparison would not push
him into a tax-cutting agenda. "This is not the time
to cut public services for Scotland's children and older people
as the Tories and the Nationalists seem to want," he
said. "Labour will instead deliver real improvements
through our reforms in health, education, criminal justice
and transport."

The Scottish People's Alliance, formed
last month by defecting Tories, said it is the only party
which regards high public spending as a problem that needs
to be controlled. "What more evidence do you need that
the Labour Party are killing the Scottish economy?" said
a spokesman. "We are the only party brave enough to tackle
this by proposing to cut income tax by the full 3p."
Scotland's public spending has long been higher than that
of England - a historic advantage being slowly eroded by the
Barnett Formula, used to divide up the UK budget. Mr. Brown's
spending bonanza is aimed at lifting England to public spending
levels enjoyed both by Scotland and the rest of Europe - specifically
health spending. As the Barnett Formula leaves the Chancellor
unable to decouple Scotland from the equation, extra cash
is automatically added to Scotland's already high base. Scotland
now spends more of its national income on health than any
other country in the developed world. While this has led to
higher hospital staffing levels, Scotland's life expectancy
remains the lowest in Europe.

From The Scotsman, UK, 22 April 2003

Thinktank Backs New
Model for Public Services

Ministers could improve some public
services by setting up public interest companies on the model
of NHS foundation trusts, the left of centre thinktank the
Institute of Public Policy Research will propose this week.
The distinctive feature of such companies is that while they
deliver a public service, they are independent of the state
and do not have shareholders. The IPPR report says there are
serious problems in delivering complex public services through
shareholder-owned companies. Backbench Labour MPs are likely
to study the IPPR's ideas closely as Tony Blair re-enters
domestic politics determined to maintain the momentum for
public sector reform. The report, the product of more than
a year's research, says that the public sector already has
public interest companies, such as Network Rail, city academies
and housing associations. It argues that the format could
be extended to areas including primary care trusts, foundation
hospitals, the troubled British Energy group, schools and
urban regeneration schemes. The idea is already being greeted
with enthusiasm by ministers eager to find a middle way between
privatisation and traditional public ownership.

Indeed, the report warns that public
interest companies (PICs) are in danger of becoming a new
political fad and the automatic solution for ministers seeking
to revive troubled public services. It suggests that ministers
need first to examine difficult issues surrounding risk, governance
and the role of profit in public services. By putting the
controversial idea of NHS foundation trusts in a wider centre-left
context, the report may also provide some political relief
to the health secretary, Alan Milburn. Paul Maltby, IPPR public
interest company research fellow, said yesterday: "Public
interest companies are at the root of the debate over foundation
hospitals, which may become Mr. Blair's biggest domestic challenge.
PICs offer the prospect of greater public involvement and
could lead to real improvements in the quality of some services."
Plans to introduce a foundation trusts bill have been delayed,
partly by a desire to avoid domestic controversy during the
Iraq war. The report gives a cautious welcome to the idea
of devolving power to trusts free from central government
restraints.

From Guardian, UK, by Patrick Wintour, 22
April 2003

Israel: 6,100 Fewer Public Sector
Workers in January

For the first time, public sector salaries
dropped sharply in January 2003. Public sector salaries and
personnel trends reversed in January 2003. For the first time,
the number of public sector employees declined. There were
793,100 public sector employees in January, 6,100 less than
in December, a decline of 0.7%, according to a Bank of Israel
research department analysis, based on Central Bureau of Statistics
figures. There were 1.595 million business sector employees
in January, 9,000 less than in December, a decline of 0.5%.
The number of business sector employees fell by 2.2%, or 35,700
people, in the preceding 12 months. Since the outbreak of
the intifada in September 2000, over 50,000 business sector
employees have been laid off, 3.2% of the labor force. For
the first time, public sector salaries dropped sharply in
January. The average public sector salary fell 6.4% in real
terms between January 2002 and January 2003. The average business
sector salary has fallen 8% in real terms since the beginning
of 2002. The average salary in the economy fell 6.3% in real
terms. Public sector salaries fell 4.1% in real terms in 2002,
compared with a 6.1% drop in business sector salaries. In
January, the average gross salary in the public sector was
NIS 6,689 and NIS 7,118 in the business sector.

From Globes - www.globes.co.il, by Zeev
Klein, 9 April 2003

Baghdad Civil Servants
Mull Resuming Work

In an attempt to restore order in Iraq's
capital after three weeks of war and days of looting, an opposition
figure Sunday called on Iraqi civil servants to "build
a new era for Iraq." Many of Baghdad's ranking police
officers were on hand as Mohammed Mussen al Zubaydi urged
them to help return security to the streets and halt a wave
of looting. Zubaydi, who until recently had lived in exile
in Britain, told about 1,500 civil servants that if they were
police officers or electrical plant workers they should return
to their jobs. "We want everyone to do his job to build
a new era for Iraq," Zubaydi said. "We don't need
any discrimination or differences between people," said
Zubaydi. "We all need to work together to build a new
Baghdad and a new Iraq." Many of the civil servants gathered
in groups outside the meeting hall to coordinate assignments
to return to their jobs. Despite the enthusiasm many showed
for a return to normalcy, some in the crowd rejected the notion
of Zubaydi as an opposition leader. His spokesman referred
to him as such. "We don't want a leader. We don't want
to talk about the past. We want to move ahead," they
said. Nonetheless, the mass meeting represented the first
real move by Iraqis themselves to re-establish a civil administration.
Many said they wanted to begin work to show the world they
could build a democracy in the ruins of Saddam Hussein's regime.

From CNN International, by Jim Clancy,
13 April 2003

Janet Reno Addresses Public Service
at Notre Dame

South Bemd, Ind. - Janet Reno, former
attorney general under President Clinton, addressed more than
400 students and members of the public Tuesday night in Stepan
Center at the University of Notre Dame. The nation's former
top law enforcement officer praised Notre Dame's "sense
of public service" as she discussed issues ranging from
Elian Gonzalez to the war in Iraq. She emphasized her experience
in public service, which she characterized as "the greatest
calling I have ever undertaken." Reno, whose hands were
trembling from Parkinson's disease, spoke about her modest
upbringing in South Florida. Her family was outgrowing their
small frame house, she said, and her mother decided to build
a new home. "She dug the foundation with her own hands,"
Reno said. She recalled when Hurricane Andrew barreled across
Florida in 1992. "The world outside looked like a World
War I battlefield, but the house had only lost one shingle,"
she said. Reno used the story as a metaphor for preparedness
in life. "It's important to build a solid foundation,"
she said. Reno discussed her accomplishments in public service,
beginning with her tenure as a prosecutor in Dade County,
Fla., where she helped to establish the Miami Drug Court at
a time when the criminal justice system was bogged down by
small drug cases arising from the crack epidemic of the 1980s.
The new court helped convicts find rehabilitation and job
training in exchange for agreeing to drug testing.

The program proved successful, and
hundreds of jurisdictions created their own similar courts.
"Recidivism was cut dramatically by the drug court process,"
Reno said. She also spoke about the 1993 Branch Davidian standoff
in Waco, Texas. Federal agents entered the cult's compound
to arrest cult leader David Koresh on weapons charges. Cult
members shot 20 ATF agents, killing four and prompting a 51-day
standoff. The siege ended when Reno ordered agents to storm
the compound with tear gas and armored vehicles. A raging
fire ensued, killing nearly 80 members of the Branch Davidian
sect. Reno called that day "the hardest day of my life,"
but she defended her decision. "I accepted the responsibility
for what happened. The buck stops here," she said. Reno
was more regretful when she began to discuss her failed bid
in the 2002 Florida gubernatorial race. She was defeated in
the Democratic primary by Tampa attorney Bill McBride in a
close race characterized by massive fund raising. Reno raised
about $2.6 million in the campaign, compared to McBride's
$4.2 million. "I regret that it was not more of a grassroots
campaign at the outset," she said, and went on to call
for reforms - including free airtime for candidates - to reduce
the necessity of high-dollar campaigns. "We do not have
to accept the fact that money controls elections," she
said.

Reno went on to propose broad changes
in government social programs and policies, criticizing what
she called the "cookie cutter education system,"
calling for schools that focus on students' "aptitudes
and interests." She also proposed wider use of affirmative
action policies. "Why do we wait until the law school
or university level? Why don't we have affirmative action
for all our children?" Reno asked. The talk was not all
serious, however. Reno joked about her appearance on "Saturday
Night Live." "I walked into NBC and there was Will
Ferrell, in my blue suit," she said. She praised the
actor as "one of the most versatile people I've ever
met," but then added softly, "It was a ghastly impersonation."
Kim Zigich, the Student Union Board's Director of Programming,
invited Reno while she was serving as SUB's programmer of
the Ideas and Issues committee. She praised Reno's speech,
calling her "someone who could bring different ideas
and viewpoints to the campus."

From The South End, MI, by Matt Bramanti,
11 April 2003

Pulitzers Awarded;
Boston Globe Wins for Public Service

New York - The Boston Globe won the
2003 Pulitzer Prize for public service Monday for ''courageous,
comprehensive coverage'' in its disclosures of sexual abuse
by priests in the Roman Catholic Church. The Los Angeles Times
and The Washington Post each won three of journalism's most
prestigious awards. The feature writing Pulitzer went to The
Los Angeles Times' Sonia Nazario for a story about a Honduran
boy's search for his mother, who had migrated to the United
States. The feature photography prize went to Don Bartletti,
also of the Times, for his portrayal of undocumented Central
American youths traveling north to the United States. Editor
John Carroll reached Bartletti in the Iraqi desert, where
he is on assignment. ''After a day in the apocalypse, hearing
your applause from back home warms my heart in my little sleeping
bag in the Iraqi desert,'' Bartletti said. Alan Miller and
Kevin Sack, also of the Los Angeles paper, won the national
reporting award for their examination of a military aircraft,
the Harrier, linked to the deaths of 45 pilots. ''It's a tribute
to pilots who lost their lives in the Harrier and those who
are still flying it in Iraq and elsewhere,'' Miller said.

The international reporting award went
to the Post's Kevin Sullivan and Mary Jordan, a married couple,
for stories on Mexico's criminal justice system. Colbert I.
King won for commentary for his columns ''that speak to people
in power with ferocity and wisdom.'' Stephen Hunter won for
his "authoritative film criticism that is both intellectually
rewarding and a pleasure to read." The Globe's public-service
award was its 17th Pulitzer overall and third for that category.
In awarding the prize, the Pulitzer board cited the paper's
"courageous, comprehensive coverage of sexual abuse by
priests, an effort that pierced secrecy, stirred local, national
and international reaction and produced changes in the Roman
Catholic Church." ''You made history this past year.
And you made the world a better and safer, and more humane
place,'' Globe Editor Martin Baron told staffers. For breaking
news, the staff of The Eagle-Tribune of Lawrence, Mass., won
for stories on the accidental drownings of four boys in the
Merrimack River. It was the 60,000-circulation newspaper's
second Pulitzer; it also won in 1988.

The Wall Street Journal staff won for
explanatory reporting for a series of stories on corporate
scandals in America. Clifford J. Levy of The New York Times
won the investigative reporting prize for a series on the
abuse of mentally ill adults in New York State-regulated homes.
Health reporter Diana K. Sugg of The (Baltimore) Sun won for
beat reporting for ''stories that illuminated complex medical
issues through the lives of people.'' Sugg's entry included
a story about the prevalence of stillbirth in seemingly routine
pregnancies. Cornelia Grumman, of the Chicago Tribune, won
the editorial prize for editorials against the death penalty.
The editorial cartooning award went to David Horsey of The
Seattle Post-Intelligencer for work ''executed with a distinctive
style and sense of humor.'' It was the newspaper's second
Pulitzer; its first was won by Horsey in 1999. ''Just like
in '99, I owed it all to Bill Clinton, so maybe this time
it's all W,'' he said, referring to President Bush. The prizes
are awarded by Columbia University on recommendations of the
Pulitzer board, which considers nominations from jurors in
each category. Each prize is worth $7,500, except for public
service, in which a paper receives a gold medal.

From Miami Herald, FL, by Sara Kugler, 8
April 2003

The Personnel Committee
of the Hamblen County Commission Voted to Recommend to the
Full Commission to Adopt the Civil Service Act for the Hamblen
County Sheriff's Department

The move came Monday during committee
meetings, with the sheriff's department well represented by
approximately two dozen employees. Deputy Jeff Seals, spokesman
for the group, outlined the need for civil service protection
for the department's employees. As at-will employees, deputies
were at the mercy of an incoming sheriff to keep their jobs.
With elections for sheriff every four years, a department
employee could go through eight elections throughout a standard
30-year career. Civil service also sets a standard for hiring,
promotions and testing for applicants. "It creates a
level playing field for everyone," Seals said. The only
department employees not covered by civil service is the sheriff,
chief deputy, sheriff's secretary, and the department's cook.
The committee will also recommend to the commission the civil
service board be installed and all guidelines be in place
by January 1, 2004. This action is a second attempt to get
civil service protection for the sheriff's department. Initial
action was taken in the mid-1980s; however, the move never
came to fruition at the time. In other committee action, the
sub-committee of Public Services will meet again at noon,
Monday, April 21, for more discussion on the garbage fund
issue. With a fund deficit looming larger, the sub-committee
chose to investigate all possible options for the future of
garbage, recycling and brush pickup for county residents.
Options may include property tax increases, monthly charges
for pick-up and even cessation of recycling and brush pick-up
entirely. The committee will attempt to make a recommendation
about the garbage fund at the May meeting of the full commission.

From Morristown Citizen Tribune, TN, 15
April 2003

Willing Public Servants
Address Seniors at Forum

With only weeks to go before the Annual
Town Election, a number of political hopefuls showed up last
Friday at a special Candidates' Forum sponsored by the Council
On Aging to make known their positions and meet some voters.
And although attendance at the forum was modest, that did
not stop the candidates from pressing on with their campaigns.
"I hope to learn and grow more," Board of Health
candidate Holly Bradman told residents Friday. "I had
a choice, and decided to give back to the community."
Bradman, a horse owner, said the board's recent deliberations
over new stabling policies was the issue that catalyzed her
interest in running for a single year term on the Board of
Health. Other issues of concern for Bradman, who told voters
that she felt her experience in facilities management and
Real Estate sales have prepared her well for the types of
issues often addressed by the board, included the impending
sale of the Belmont Springs company and local water quality.
"We need to maintain our sources of water in town,"
Bradman said. Water quality and availability was also on the
mind of DPW board incumbent candidate Fred Farmer who told
those in attendance that uppermost in his mind was the protection
of the town's wells and storage tanks as well as maintaining
the infrastructure that supplies residents with clean water.
Farmer, who has just completed a one-year term on the DPW
Board and is now seeking a three-year term, also suggested
the need to "stabilize" the increasing demand for
clean water and to control growth in order to satisfy the
needs of the future.

With the future in mind, Farmer called
for the purchase of a well site on Nashua Road, the installation
of a water pump on Maple Street, and continued negotiations
with Dunstable for access to its water reserves in exchange
for equipment and water maintenance technologies. Also seeking
election to the DPW board is former Fire Chief John Marriner
who cited his many years of public service and long time experience
in the general contracting field as qualifications. "I
would like to bring some of my expertise to the town,"
said Marriner adding that what Pepperell needs is public servants
who could think "outside the box." As an example,
Mariner cited the need for traffic control at the intersections
of Elm and Main Streets. The cost of the most obvious solution,
electrified signals, would be a prohibitive $200,000. "We
don't have that kind of money," Marriner said. "The
elderly don't want to see their taxes go up. But maybe a convex
mirror will work. I just don't know, these ideas are like
mud, you throw it at a wall and sometimes mud sticks."
Marriner claimed that towns as well as state government are
afflicted with what he called "tax-itis," and that
new, less expensive solutions to problems had to be found.

Fiscal management was also on the mind
of School Committee candidate Arnold Silva, who is running
for one of two open seats on the district committee. "It's
not fun, but sometimes you have to do what you have to do
to make ends meet," declared Silva of the hard choices
school officials have been forced to make in recent months
to contend with state cuts in local aid. "I think it's
time for new ideas and new ways of looking at things,"
said Silva, whose background is in finance. "The people
we have in the school department may be very well qualified,
but maybe it's time for a change. Budgets are still going
to be an issue at least through July, so I will have the time
to participate (in the process)." Housing Authority member
Robert Russell, who is running for re-election to a five-year
term, attended Friday's event armed with previously prepared
facts and figures including a list of the number of houses
owned and operated by the town which include a 51-unit complex
for the elderly on Foster Street. According to Russell, because
of "a little problem with our new governor," the
Authority has had to cut back the hours of some of its employees.
Few questions from the dozen or so residents who attended
Friday's forum resulted in an abbreviated program that soon
dissolved into individual discussions between candidates and
voters. "They're pretty good," summed up Tucker
Street resident Thomas Leary. "They all made sense."
The Town Election is scheduled for April 28.

From Townsend Times, MA, by Pierre Comtois,
4 April 2003

Call for Public Servants
to Rethink Modes of Operation

IT is being suggested that public services
across the Caribbean rethink and reconfigure their modes of
operations. The suggestion is coming from Dr. P.I. Gomes,
executive director of the Caribbean Centre for Development
Administration (CARICAD). He reasoned that this approach is
necessary since they had to build capacity for Caribbean enterprises
to become more competitive, not only within the Caricom Single
market and Economy (CSME), but also in view of demands of
the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) and World Trade
Organisation (WTO) stipulations. He said that as a result,
public sector reform (PSR) strategies assume added significance
as Member States require "new" institutional support
systems, such as business and labour advisory committees;
standardisation and monitoring systems for free movement of
skills, persons and capital; as well as to ensure the rights
of establishment for business and services to be provided
by CARICOM nationals across an entire "single economic
space", comprising various legal jurisdictions. The complexity
of institutional change and development required is evident.
Several issues in the area of public administration have implications
for more than one government department - as for example,
with regard to the establishment of business, whereby permission
and statutory regulations cut across, labour, finance, education,
social security, health and customs. "When CARICAD speaks
of PSR, it is really a comprehensive and coherent, multi-sectoral
strategy to transform the culture of public sector management
that we are pursuing, by means of multi-disciplinary teams
and in strategic partnerships," said the executive director.
CARICAD has signed a strategic partnership with the Department
for International Development (DFID/C).

This, along with the PSR Fund, will
make possible the recruitment of two management specialists
with knowledge and expertise in strategic planning, institutional
strengthening and financial management relevant to or based
on Caribbean socio-economic and political conditions. In this
regard, CARICAD has already succeeded in recruiting Mr. Richard
Madavo of Zimbabwe, a change management specialist who has
over the last years worked with the Governments of Dominica,
Grenada and Saint Lucia on the design and operation of strategic
management plans for various government departments, including
Customs, Training Divisions, Agriculture and the Police Services.
The PSR Fund is meant to be the kernel of a multi-donor facility
that will be managed by CARICAD so as to address and add value
to country-level initiatives for improved governance and the
advancement of regional integration. Such a facility is regarded
as an important development in lateral technical cooperation,
at a time when many donors are showing increasing concern
about the unnecessary duplication of efforts by inefficient
use of limited development resources. This is occurring to
the detriment of an urgent need to enhance indigenous managerial
capacity of Caribbean personnel and reduce exorbitant consulting
contracts that only minimally, if at all, provide any "value-added"
or major contribution of innovative insights for knowledge
and technology transfer. More concentrated and sharply focused
efforts will be pursued with assistance of the PSR Fund so
that human resources and public sector management systems
can be reorganised and strengthened with a view to advancing
Caribbean regional integration.

From Barbados Advocate, West Indies, 12
April 2003

Creating Effective
Public Service Advertising

The Advertising Council will once again
host an educational seminar series, entitled "The Art
of Getting Attention: Secrets 2003," on May 8-9 in Washington,
D.C. The program will provide the tools and methods essential
to creating effective public service communications. Initiated
in 2001, the educational seminar will be held every two years.
The seminar is designed for government agency and non-profit
communications professionals who will benefit from the Ad
Council's expertise in public service advertising. Panel discussions
led by Ad Council senior staff members and industry leaders
will provide valuable advice on the various components of
a PSA campaign - including research, marketing, fundraising,
media outreach and the evaluation of results. More than 200
professionals attended the 2001 seminar. This year's seminar
will feature speakers including Bob Johansen, President, Institute
for the Future, and will highlight topics including the importance
of knowing your audience, creating better advertising, taking
public service messages online and making PSAs newsworthy.

Other speakers will include keynote
speaker Andy Goodman, Author, "Why Bad Ads Happen to
Good Causes," Andy Langer, Vice Chairman, Lowe &
Partners Worldwide and Jim LeMay, Deputy Managing Editor of
CNN. The cost of attending the seminar is $795 for non-profit
and government professionals and $1,295 for foundation and
corporation professionals. Online registration and additional
information is available at online. The seminar is sponsored
in part by AT & T. The Ad Council is a private, non-profit
organization with a 60-year history of marshalling volunteer
talent from the advertising and media industries to deliver
critical messages to the American public. Ad Council icons
and slogans are woven into the very fabric of American culture
- from Smokey Bear's "Only You Can Prevent Forest Fires"
and McGruff the Crime Dog's: "Take A Bite Out of Crime,"
to the United Negro College Fund's: "A Mind is a Terrible
Thing To Waste," and "Friends Don't Let Friends
Drive Drunk." The Ad Council received $1.58 billion in
donated advertising time and space from the media last year.

From PNN, VA, 15 April 2003

Exemplary Public Service
- SARS: Stringent Controls Justified

It is inevitable that public health
officials will be second-guessed in taking strict precautions
to prevent the spread of SARS. That's understandable, given
the hardship and stress that many people are going through.
But when all is said and done, we readily appreciate the concern
that authorities have about the risks of letting down our
guard too soon. Dr. James Young, Ontario's commissioner of
public safety, believes the province is close to bringing
the contagious disease under control after the three-week
containment effort. We hate to think where Ontario would be
if officials had been less vigilant. On that score, authorities
are fully justified in warning that they will play hardball
with any infected persons ignoring quarantine requirements.
Of the thousands of people in and around the Greater Toronto
Area who have needed to quarantine themselves, only a tiny
minority (at least 12) have ignored voluntary isolation requests.
In one case, an employee of a Hewlett-Packard plant in Markham
who was supposed to be quarantined went to work anyway while
suffering SARS symptoms. That's intolerable. People diagnosed
with SARS who carry on with business as usual put co-workers,
friends and the community at risk. While officials are cautiously
optimistic about the progress made in fighting SARS, there
is a consensus that hospitals, clinics and family physicians
will need to pay more attention to disease prevention and
infection control. Authorities are suggesting that when Ontario's
hospitals return to normal, it will be "a new kind of
normal" to help prevent a repeat of an outbreak as menacing
as SARS. The point needs to be followed up once the media
move away from the SARS story. For now, we salute the dedication
shown by the nurses and physicians who are working tirelessly
on the front lines of the fight against SARS. They deserve
accolades for exemplary public service in exceptionally difficult
conditions.

From Hamilton Spectator, Canada, 15 April
2003

Many Canadians Feel
Civil Servants 'Privileged': Poll

Montreal - Nearly 60 per cent of Canadians
believed government employees were in a "privileged position,"
suggests an opinion poll. Fifty-eight per cent of respondents
in the Leger Marketing survey replied Yes to the following
question: "Do you think public-service employees are
in a privileged position as workers?" Another 32 per
cent said No, while 10 per cent refused to answer or said
they didn't know. The belief that civil servants are privileged
was strongest in Quebec, where 75 per cent of respondents
thought it was the case. Other regional numbers were: the
Atlantic provinces, 62 per cent; Manitoba and Saskatchewan,
54; Ontario, 53; Alberta, 52; and British Columbia, 49.The
March 19-23 poll of 1,501 Canadians is considered accurate
within 2.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. The margins
of error are higher for the regional numbers. Forty-three
per cent of respondents also believed public-service employees
are better paid than private-sector workers who do equivalent
tasks, compared with 24 per cent who believed there is no
difference in remuneration. Another 14 per cent believed people
in the private sector are paid more than government employees.
The poll also found that 42 per cent of respondents thought
government employees work less than people who have equivalent
jobs in the private sector. Almost as many - 39 per cent -
thought the workload was the same, while six per cent said
government employees had more work. Canadians considered municipal
workers to be more courteous than their provincial and federal
counterparts, the poll indicated. Thirty per cent chose municipal
public servants when asked which level of government had the
"most efficient and courteous" employees. Seventeen
per cent opted for provincial civil servants, while 16 per
cent said federal workers were the most pleasant to deal with.
Thirty-six per cent refused to answer or said they didn't
know.

From The Globe and Mail, Canada, 22 April
2003

Rumsfeld Urges Overhaul
of Pentagon Civil Service

Pay for Performance, Shift of 320,000
Jobs, Other Major Powers Sought in Legislation - Defense Secretary
Donald H. Rumsfeld wants to implement sweeping changes in
the way civilian employees are hired, paid and promoted in
the Defense Department. Pentagon officials recently sent a
205-page bill to Capitol Hill detailing a proposed overhaul
of the civil service system that would replace guaranteed
annual raises for 470,000 workers with a pay-for-performance
plan. It also would shift as many as 320,000 military members
out of jobs that could be done by civilians, make it easier
for the Defense Department to contract out work to the private
sector and allow managers to hire and transfer employees without
time-consuming competitions. Moreover, the proposal would
grant the defense secretary the power to implement major personnel
changes over the opposition of the Office of Personnel Management
and labor unions. Pentagon officials said the changes are
necessary to shape the Defense Department into a modern, responsive
bureaucracy capable of efficiently carrying out the government's
most important mission, protecting its citizens. "We
are trying to create a system in which people can think in
one cohesive unit, and then act," said David S. Chu,
undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, speaking
yesterday at a human resources forum hosted by the IBM Endowment
for the Business of Government. "The current civil service
system is rigid. It is not agile," Chu said. "We
cannot succeed with the current system." Congress granted
similar personnel authority to the new Department of Homeland
Security last year. Labor union officials said the jury is
still out on whether that round of changes will help or hinder
the operation of government. "It is, at best, premature
to consider anything like this for [the Pentagon] before what
we consider to be the biggest demonstration project ever,
which is DHS, has had an opportunity to either succeed or
fail," said Jacqueline Simon, director of public policy
for the American Federation of Government Employees. "They've
barely started."

Simon said union officials are still
trying to digest the massive bill. In general, however, union
officials have said agencies lack the funding and evaluation
systems needed to execute pay-for-performance plans fairly.
And they have warned that relaxing civil service rules could
lead to cronyism in hiring and promotions. The impact of the
bill may be felt far beyond the Defense Department. In addition
to DHS, several smaller agencies such as the Internal Revenue
Service and the Federal Aviation Administration are operating
under special personnel rules. If the Pentagon gets what it
wants, about half of the government's 1.8 million civilian
employees would no longer work under the traditional civil
service system that emphasizes longevity of service in determining
pay. Some analysts said the legislation would overtake efforts
by some members of Congress to pass government-wide changes
in pay and hiring. "It's awful hard to stop this cart
from rolling," said John M. Palguta, a former top official
at the federal Merit Systems Protection Board, where employees
can appeal disciplinary and personnel decisions under the
current system. "It may be the tipping point. This one
is huge. I think where [the Pentagon] goes on this will have
a major impact on what might happen for other agencies."
The plan will face obstacles from labor unions and some lawmakers,
and the administrative challenge of reshaping a bureaucracy
as large as the Defense Department, which has at least 620,000
civilian employees. But with the victory in Iraq, Rumsfeld's
political standing and influence have never been higher. Republicans
control Congress and the White House, and last year's homeland
security legislation established a legislative precedent.
Officials with key congressional committees said yesterday
they were studying the legislation but couldn't comment on
its prospects. "The unprecedented package of reforms
may well be just what the Department of Defense needs to be
a more efficient, flexible fighting force," said Sen.

Susan Collins (R-Maine), chairwoman
of the Governmental Affairs Committee. "But the package
needs to be analyzed further, and questions concerning why
certain new authorities are needed must be answered."
Harald Stavenas, a spokesman for the House Armed Services
Committee, said, "It's being looked at. Everything is
on the table." Defense officials said they hope to start
implementing the plan as soon as this fall. They admit that
they have not left lawmakers with much time, but said holding
off until next year, an election year, would hurt the bill's
chances even more. The plan's most ambitious feature is a
proposal to toss out the General Schedule for 470,000 white-collar
workers (such as scientists, engineers and administrators)
and replace it with pay bands, which would create a salary
range for certain positions. Top workers would get substantial
annual raises based on job evaluations, while low performers
would not get raises. The pay band proposal represents a sharp
departure from the current system, which guarantees a base-level
pay increase every year and rewards longevity as well as performance.
Under such a new system, "people who are low performers
don't stay in the [agency] workforce," said Ginger Groeber,
deputy undersecretary of defense for civilian personnel policy.
"They move on to something else that is more suited to
their capabilities." Groeber and other officials said
the pay plan will not require new money; managers would distribute
their budgets.

In another significant move, officials
would reassign as many as 320,000 military members to jobs
that are more directly tied to war-fighting and national security,
leaving the tasks they had been doing to civil servants or
private contractors, or eliminating the positions. Chu
acknowledged the proposal could increase the size of the workforce
in the short run, but said costs will not necessarily increase
over the long run because of efforts to streamline the Defense
Department. Managers also would be able to hire workers more
quickly for hard-to-fill posts, gain new authority to hire
retirees and temporary workers, and be able to transfer employees
to other positions without a competitive process as long as
the new job pays no more than the old one, officials said.
The department would be able to move work from federal employees
to private contractors on the basis of who offers the "best
value" rather than the current standard of lowest cost.
Paul C. Light, a professor of public service at New York University
and a scholar at the Brookings Institution, called the current
civil service system "a disaster" and "devastatingly
inefficient." The Defense Department wants to race ahead
of what so far have been mere "baby steps" of reform
in federal agencies, he said. "This reform goes too far
in the sense of giving an agency basically carte blanche in
determining what its personnel system looks like," Light
said, "but unless OPM and Congress can come up with something
more radical than what's currently on the agenda, I'd say
go for it."

From Washington Post, DC, by Christopher
Lee, 22 April 2003

S&P Comments on
Public Service Co of New Mexico

New York - Standard & Poor's Ratings
Services said today that Public Service Co. of New Mexico's
(BBB-/Stable/--) announcement that it is one of the defendants
named in 20 asbestos-related lawsuits filed April 17, 2003,
is not good for the company's credit quality. However, until
the company is able to determine whether or not the lawsuits
will have a significant negative impact on its financial profile,
Standard & Poor's will maintain its stable outlook on
the ratings.

From Forbes, 24 April 2003

Lovell Calls for Anti-corruption

Senator Harold Lovell has challenged
the Lester Bird administration to introduce anti-corruption
legislation to eliminate the public's perception that all
politicians are "scamps and vagabonds." In his contribution
to the 2003 debate in the Senate on Tuesday, Lovell made specific
reference to the situation in Trinidad & Tobago, where
the former Prime Minister Basdeo Panday had failed to disclose
monies in his bank account and where that case is now before
the High Court in Trinidad. Senator Lovell acknowledged that
Trinidad & Tobago has enacted the necessary legislation
to bring their politicians to account "because for too
long now people see politicians as crooks and thieves."
"And if that image of a person who puts himself forward
to serve is to be changed, then it means that the necessary
legislation must be put into place so that persons who serve
in public office can show a clean slate and can be held to
account at all times," Lovell said. "We have not
heard anything about that. We heard something about an act
which is going to require the tabling of accounts and that
type of thing but it is already provided for in the constitution,"
he added.

Senator Lovell called for the government
to be serious about the issue at hand and stop skirting around
it. He said for too long government has been dragging its
feet on the issue. "What I am calling for Madame President,
is for the enactment of a genuine anti corruption act in this
country and a commitment from the government that it will
be done within this legislative session," Lovell said.
"It was promised in the last (legislative session), it
was promised in the one before the last and it was promised
in the one before the one before the last. The time has come
for us to stop promising to enact anti- corruption legislations
and to enact it or else one will be left with the inescapable
conclusion that this government does not seriously wish to
tackle corruption within its rank, that this government does
not wish to present a clean slate and that as some people
would say they are nothing but a bunch of vagabonds,"
he added. The senator said he was not too sure whether the
integrity in Public Office Act will be tabled during this
session of Parliament.

From Antigua Sun, Antigua, 24 April 2003

Local NAACP Investigates
Wilmington's Civil Service Commission

The local NAACP branch is investigating
the city commission charged with giving due process to the
city's fire and police personnel. "We were concerned
about the decisions they made," said Marguerite M. Brown,
secretary of the New Hanover County branch of the NAACP, which
said in a news release last week it was investigating the
five-member board. The executive committee of the local branch
of the NAACP met recently to review recent rulings of the
Civil Service Commission, which reinstated two Wilmington
police officers after the controversial driving while impaired
arrest of a black city councilwoman last November. After an
internal police investigation into Mayor Pro Tem Katherine
Moore's arrest, which the district attorney dismissed due
to a lack of evidence, Wilmington police Chief John Cease
fired arresting officer Paul Nevitt and demoted the supervisor,
Sgt. Lisa Kittrell. But the Civil Service Commission reversed
the two disciplinary actions. "We felt that there was
some violation of the rules, but we didn't think they met
the standard of what was done to (Sgt. Kittrell)," said
Samuel Warshauer, a member of the commission since 1982. Warshauer
said the commission didn't "really have a hearing"
on Nevitt, who now works for Sheriff Sid Causey. "We
had a deal that if he was reinstated by the commission he
would resign, and the city agreed to that. No one had any
objections.

He didn't do anything dishonorable,"
Warshauer said. "It was maybe a little lapse in judgment,"
he added. "He thought he was doing the right thing."
Five people make up the commission, and each is selected by
the members of five different institutions: the police and
fire departments, the City Council, the New Hanover County
Medical Society's governing board and the Wilmington Ministerial
Association. Cease questioned the commission's rules, which
haven't been reviewed in some time. "(The Civil Service
Commission) appears to be somewhat antiquated," he said.
"It's never been modernized or changed with the times."
Giving an officer access to due process and preventing them
from being fired on a whim are valid reasons for the commission's
existence, the chief said. "It forces you to be a good
personnel manager," he said. But while Cease said he
has to live with his decisions being reversed, he said he
thinks the City Council may evaluate the commission in the
future. "People expect to know the facts (of cases),
sort of like a trial," he said, referring to commission
hearings, which are closed unless the employee being heard
requests otherwise. "It makes it different and confusing
to the public," Cease said, while acknowledging the difficulty
of the issues and an employee's right to privacy.

From Sarasota Herald-Tribune, FL, 27 April
2003

Australia Continues to Deliver on
e-Government

Australia continues to be recognised
as a world leader in the delivery of government services online,
the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and
the Arts, Senator Richard Alston, said in a media release
yesterday. Commenting on eGovernment Leadership: Engaging
the Customer, a report by Accenture, Senator Alston said that
the Federal Government's framework for the next stage of e-government
was cited in the report as featuring "many of the hallmarks
of leading-edge thinking about e-government today." Unfortunately,
Senator Alston's office did not have a copy of the report
in digital form to email to us. A hard copy was available
for faxing, though. Accenture, despite its supposed accent
on customer relationship management, had a broken link to
the PDF of this report on its site (scroll to the bottom for
the link). In the absence of the report, we continue from
the media release. "The important issue for Australia
is not our precise ranking in this survey - as Australia has
ranked in the top five countries in various e-government reports
over the last 12 months - but that we are consistently amongst
the leaders. Internationally, we are recognised for our leadership
in implementing and delivering e-government and in developing
frameworks that support the transition from paper-based service
delivery to electronic formats," Senator Alston said.
The media release said the most significant worldwide example
of customer relationships management was Centrelink which
"leads the world in delivering integrated multi-channel
multi-agency services to individuals". It also said Australia
saw e-government as part of a wider transformation agenda,
and, like other world leaders in this area, was adopting delivery
mechanisms appropriate to its circumstances.

From Sydney Morning Herald, Australia, 9
April 2003

MS Digital Democracy

Microsoft aims to reduce the digital
divide in the country through its e-governance initiatives
- It's hard work by a software major. Software giant Microsoft
is now spearheading e-governance initiatives across India
in a big way. The company started this initiative in 1997.
"The biggest bottleneck in India today is the digital
divide," says Shailender Kumar, group manager, Microsoft
Corporation (India) Pvt. Ltd. Globally, the company is actively
supporting e-governance initiatives in 45 countries. Recently,
the company signed an MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) with
the government of Uttaranchal, under which it will jointly
develop and deploy an array of technology solutions for e-governance
in the state. With the signing of the MoU, the Department
of Information Technology (DOIT) will attain the status of
a strategic Microsoft technology partner for the Uttaranchal
government and it will consult, develop and execute systems
integration projects on Microsoft technologies. The MoU also
entails the setting up of two centres of excellence for e-governance
in the state. These centres will help in facilitating the
state government and university to conduct technical training
sessions for government personnel. Further, the MoU will also
focus on launching a Hindi lab in Dehradun to promote the
use of Hindi in government workflow applications. Microsoft
will also provide its consulting resources to the Uttaranchal
government for the development and implementation of 'Project
Haridwar', which proposes to offer services tr pilgrims visiting
Haridwar.

Microsoft has so far signed MoUs with
12 Indian states. Recently, when Microsoft chairman and chief
software architect Bill Gates visited India, he announced
that his company would deepen its commitment to India by making
investments to the tune of Rs 2,000 crore over the next three
years in several areas, including education, partnerships,
innovation, localisation and its development centre. Under
the Project Shiksha programme, Microsoft aims to accelerate
computer literacy by proving end-to-end solutions. Over 80,000
school teachers and 3.5 million students across government
schools are expected to benefit from this initiative over
the next five years. Microsoft also aims to set up 10 state
of the art Microsoft IT Academy Centres in partnership with
state education departments, in addition to collaborating
with over 2,000 partner driven school labs. The company has
also jumped into the vernacular space in a big way. Currently
the ubiquitous Windows XP has been localised in nine Indian
languages. Two more languages, Bengali and Malayalam, will
be added to this basket soon. The company has further strengthened
its relationship with the government of Karnataka. The company
plans to partner and collaborate with the government in the
areas of education and citizen services. This is in addition
to the existing relationship that Microsoft has with the Karnataka
government on e-governance.

The Smart School initiative is modelled
on Microsoft's connected learning vision, which is aimed towards
building a digital learning community. A key component of
this project is the setting up of Smart Schools in five core
divisions across the state on a pilot basis. Microsoft will
provide the software solutions and teacher training to these
schools and also develop an IT related curriculum for them.
Microsoft officials are gung-ho about the e-governance project.
Says Mr. Kumar, "Most state governments have earmarked
an IT budget in their 10th Plan. In fact, most politicians
and bureaucrats are upbeat about the IT benefits that can
be passed on to the common man. It ultimately leads to a transparent
and efficient government." This is not all. Microsoft
has also undertaken a number of e-governance initiatives in
the recent past. It has worked with Andhra Pradesh Technology
Services on several e-governance initiatives. The hazard mitigation
information system, for instance, helps in minimising losses
and damage caused due to natural calamities like droughts
and cyclones. The other significant joint project is the computer
aided administration of commercial taxes. Prior to its implementation,
the process was plagued with tedious manual systems, which
often resulted in inaccurate estimation and collection of
commercial taxes.

Since its implementation, the project
has already resulted in the detection of Rs 3,402 lakh of
turnover evaded and officials have collected Rs 211.83 lakh
in tax. In neighbouring Tamil Nadu, Microsoft is working with
ELCOT (Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu) to make digital
democracy a reality in the state. The company is working with
ELCOT in the area of computerisation of various government
departments in the state. The National Crime Records Bureau
(NCRB) has developed a software for the Indian police and
other law enforcement agencies. This Microsoft government
solution for simplyfying crime records is based on MS Windows
2000 Advanced Server, MS SQL Server 7 Enterprise, MS Visual
Basic 6.0, MS Back Office Server and MS Exchange. But Microsoft
is not alone in this initiative. Recently, when Sun Microsystems
president and CEO Scott McNealy came visiting, he said Sun
would donate $300 million worth of software and a set of programmes
aimed at the educational sector in the country. Mr. McNealy
further announced that the Indian government and Sun were
in discussions about possible areas of cooperation.

From Indian Express, India, by Aparna Ramalingam,
29 March 2003

Japan Lags Behind in
E-government Programs: Report

Japan still lags behind in terms of
the maturity of e-government programs for the implementation
of online services by state agencies, according to a recent
survey by U.S. consulting firm Accenture. In its report "eGovernment
Leadership: Engaging the Customer," Accenture ranked
Japan 15th among the 22 governments surveyed, up two places
from last year's report. Canada topped the list for the third
consecutive year. Each government is placed in one of five
basic brackets of maturity, according to the sophistication
of its online services. Accenture based its study on "quantitative
and qualitative" research conducted in January through
actual use of services. The report said the Canadian government
is the only one that has reached the fifth and highest stage
- "service transformation." In the fourth group
- "mature delivery" - are Singapore, ranked second
behind Canada, the United States, Denmark, Australia, Finland,
Hong Kong, Britain, Germany, Ireland and France. Japan was
placed in the third stage - "service availability"
- along with the Netherlands, Spain, Norway, Italy and Malaysia.
Referring to the progress Japan has made under the government's
e-Japan program, Accenture said it had basic portals built
with the goal of quickly making as many services available
online as possible, however its customer-relations management
is still poor.

Tax returns online - The National Tax
Agency has announced that taxpayers living in Aichi, Shizuoka,
Mie and Gifu, the four prefectures under the administration
of the Nagoya Regional Taxation Bureau, will be able to file
their tax returns online beginning in February. The agency
said it plans to expand the electronic tax filing and payment
system across the nation in June 2004. In the initial stage,
the Nagoya Regional Taxation Bureau will accept online filing
of individual income taxes and consumption tax. The filing
of corporate taxes will be able to be carried out electronically
beginning in late March, along with tax payments via the Internet.
To file returns electronically, a taxpayer needs to upload
special software, which provides the necessary forms and instructions
on how to fill them out. The National Tax Agency says it decided
to launch the electronic tax filing system on a staggered
schedule to ensure the system is safe and secure.

From The Japan Times, 14 April 2003

Civil Servants to Get
More Training on e-Government

The effort to ensure that civil servants
are ready and have the know-how to operate in the new e-Government
format is now being stepped up through the Civil Service Institute
or IPA. Also in place and continuously refined and upgraded
is the effort to increase efficiency, productivity and quality
of service in the present government machinery through training
and retraining programmes. "During the past 12 months
of last year only some 51 courses and training programmes
on human resource development, IT, quality and productivity
were conducted for 4,818 participants that comprise civil
servants from various government agencies". "This
year the number of programmes and courses provided is increasing.
From January to April this year some 42 programmes and courses
have already been conducted," said the Director of IPA,
Dr. Awang Azahairaini bin Haji Mohd Jamil. He said about half
of these programmes and courses were designed to provide the
participants with new knowledge and know-how on ICT. "The
aim is not only to help participants to increase their computer
literacy but also on how to make IT a culture in the government
community," said the Director of IPA. "This is in
line with the government's effort to gear up the civil servants
towards the eventual formation of the e-Government machinery,"
he added in an interview with the Bulletin yesterday. He said
that running parallel to this effort is also the ongoing programme
to increase the productivity, efficiency and quality of service
of the civil service.

However, Dr Azahairaini conceded that
the big challenge for IPA is not just in providing the human
resource development programmes and training courses to participants.
"Our concerned in IPA has been always the effectiveness
of our programmes and training courses in meeting the need
of the public sector to have efficient, effective, customer-oriented
and dynamic civil service. On the other hand we are also dealing
with the bigger issue of changing mindset". In this context,
IPA is apparently setting the pace to do its housekeeping
first and change the mindset of its own community. According
to Dr. Azahairaini, a new organisational structure has already
been put in place in IPA. Now five sections, namely, the Training
and Development, the Support Services Section, the Administration
and Management Section, Research and Development and the MIS
and ICT Section, support IPA. IPA has also drawn up a five-year
strategic plan to become one of the best institutes among
partners in Human Resource Development in the Asean region,"
explained the Director. "Our strategies are to improve
the efficiency and effectiveness of the administrative and
management systems of IPA, to develop staff expertise in specific
management, administration and ICT disciplines and to improve
the quality of HRD in accordance with the needs of customers."

From Borneo Bulletin, Brunei, by Malai Hassan
Othman, 22 April 2003

S. Africa Seeks India's
Aid in IT Sector

Bangalore - A business-cum-Government
delegation from South Africa today sought for greater cooperation
between India and South Africa for expanding Information and
Communication Technology in both the countries. "Both
of us should partner on our mutual strength and build business
and government relations", South African Minister for
Communications Ivy Matsepe Casaburri said here today. Addressing
members of NASSCOM here, she further said that besides commercial
aspects of IT, India could share its rich experience on E-governance
and E-initiatives for development purposes. South Africa could
offer Indian IT Companies the best advantage and help them
make forays into Europe and the United States, Casaburri said.
She said the timing of the delegation, which also included
officials from some of the IT companies in South Africa, was
appropriate as countries in the African continent were looking
inward for cooperating mutually to ensure better development.
She also wanted India to consider South Africa for setting
up disaster recovery systems. In his Address, NASSCOM Chairman
Som Mittal said India was expected to get business worth $17
billion by way of Business Process Outsourcing by the year
2008. The sector was growing at about 65 per cent, he said
and went on to add that the domestic IT market was expected
to touch $25 billion by 2008 with exports contributing $50
billion dollars by then.

From The Hindu, India, 24 April 2003

UK: UK 'Must Redesign' e-Gov Sites

Nearly 80 per cent of UK central government
Web sites need to be redesigned before they can be fully accessible
to users with disabilities, judging from a leaked report from
the e-Envoy's office. According to eGov Monitor Weekly around
800 public sector Web sites may need rebuilding to comply
with accessibility laws requiring government services to cater
for people with disabilities. The claim is based on details
leaked from an internal report carried out by the Office of
the e-Envoy (OeE), the cabinet office unit responsible among
other things for improving the accessibility and usability
of UK government Web sites. The OeE report draws upon the
findings by the National Audit Office investigation, which
examined the accessibility of 65 central government Web sites
and concluded that nearly all were potentially excluding users.
EGov Monitor estimates that to fix the problems, government
departments may need to spend at least 10 percent to 15 per
cent of their total annual budget for Web sites. Editor Ian
Cuddy told ElectricNews.Net that it was difficult to put a
precise figure on the total cost of the redesigns required
because the OeE has refused to release further details of
the audit, but it is expected to run into millions.

The OeE has now warned the Web design
industry that future government contracts will demand that
companies deliver Web sites that conform to international
Web accessibility standards. Current responsibility for adopting
these standards rests with individual government webmasters,
not designers, and compliance is not centrally monitored.
"The responsibility for accessibility is not isolated
to the supplier," said Cuddy. "The people in government
looking after the standards have also got a responsibility.
The report doesn't reflect very well on them." Some of
the government Web sites may just require just front-end changes,
but others may need a more extensive re-working of their architectures.
The high cost involved in these more serious redesigns highlights
the fact that it is much cheaper to design in accessibility
from scratch rather than add it on at a later stage, said
Cuddy. The news comes at a time when the government is planning
to downgrade the office of e-envoy, something that looks set
to be strongly opposed.

From The Register, UK, 10 April 2003

E-government Targets
Strain Council Budget

Cumbria reviews third-party options
to maximise its £10m annual IT spend - Cumbria County Council
is considering how best to use third-party help to meet e-government
targets and stay within its £10m annual IT spend. Following
an internal review the council concluded that already rising
IT costs will increase even further unless an expert IT provider
is strategically partnered or used as an outsourcer. The council
has already posted a tender in its search for a partner. Alan
Cook, project manager at Cumbria County Council, said the
authority has yet to make a decision on which route to take.
"We've not decided whether to create a limited company
[with a partner] or to take on an outsourcer," he added.
With central government as well as individual departments
setting online targets, the council has decided that third-party
skills will help keep costs down and service levels up. "It
may cost a few million more to provide the services and meet
online targets but we think that, by working with a partner,
the service improvement will be better than if did this in-house,"
said Cook. More and more councils are involved in strategic
partnerships with IT suppliers in joint ventures, with cost
savings, innovation and even profits as the incentives of
this alternative to outsourcing. Kate Mountain, chief executive
at local government IT group Socitm, said the choice between
strategic partnering and outsourcing depends on the attitude
of individual local authorities to "risks and rewards".
"The risk of strategic partnerships is higher but the
benefits can be better," she explained. "But if
a council wants a more straightforward development they will
probably choose outsourcing."

From VNUNet, UK, by Karl Flinders, 11 April
2003

KPMG e-Government Survey

Our enthusiasm for e-government appears
to be on the rise according to a new survey released by KPMG
Consulting. In a repeat of its February 2001 study, KPMG's
research shows that two-thirds of Brits would now like at
least one local service available for interaction online.
Initially looking at levels of connectedness, the new figures
reveal that half the British population now has access to
the Internet at home or work. This level is up significantly
from the 44% mark of last year. More folk have access at home
than at work still in 2002, with only nearing a quarter of
the population getting online from their workplace. The data
also shows that a further 27% of those without online access
at home or work predict they will be online in three years'
time. Such a shift would bring overall Internet access up
to 63% by 2005. Residents are increasingly looking forward
to a wired local government. When asked about preferences
in their choice of media for dealing with the services in
the near future (3 years time), respondents viewed new media
favourably. The most popular option emerged as being via a
traditional call centre (30%), followed by via the Net (19%),
a local office (15%) and through the Post Office (10%).

Respondents' vision for an electronic
future was perhaps clearer when questioned as to specific
activities. When asked which activities they would be prepared
to do electronically, nearly three fifths (57%) of all adults
thought they would choose to carry out a local government
activity electronically. The study also reveals that just
over a third claimed that they would vote in a local council
or general election (38%); apply for/renew a passport (37%);
book an appointment with a GP (37%);get health information
via NHS Direct (37%); renew their car tax (36%); notify their
council of a fault (35%); or renew their TV licence (34%).
Less encouragingly, a third (31%) stated that they would not
expect to interact electronically at all. The KPMG research
was conducted by MORI, interviewing 2,028 adults aged 16+
in their homes during February 21 to 26, 2002. Comparisons
were made with the 2001 KPMG e-Government survey, conducted
by MORI between February 15 and 20, 2001.

From Daily Research News Online, UK, 11
April 2003

Bristol City Select
Mayrise Management Systems for e-Government Push

Bristol City Council has awarded a
contract to Mayrise Systems for the latest generation computerised
system to manage council cleansing services. The system will
be part of a Web-integrated IT solution for the council's
new Customer Services Centre being set up for council's Neighbourhood
and Housing Services Department. Used initially for managing
refuse & recycling collections the MAYRISETM system will
be quickly extended to other applications such as street cleansing,
building cleaning and abandoned vehicles. MAYRISE is being
linked to a FrontLine Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
system from Lagan that records incoming calls and will enable
the Customer Services officer to answer 80% of the calls at
the point of contact. Mayrise has developed an open CRM interface
that includes Web-integration using XML. Call centre operators
using FrontLine can immediately see details held in MAYRISE
through a totally transparent interface. Services will be
integrated in a 2 phase approach between the CRM system and
MAYRISE. Bristol is a fast evolving city that has become a
favourite location for banking, insurance and high tech industries.

The Customer Service Centre is part
of the council's Customer Focus Strategy and the aim is to
make the new centre a model of best practice, dealing with
80% of customers' calls at the first point of contact. MAYRISE
and FrontLine will link to the council's Land and Property
Gazetteer so all enquiries are matched to a common address
database. This ensures trouble-free interchange on data in
line with 'joined up' government and also links to the national
dataset, the National Land and Property gazetteer (NLPG).
"We needed a system that could manage a broad range of
council cleansing services and the Mayrise system had all
the functionality needed as well as being affordable and easy
to use. At the same time Mayrise has made integration with
the CRM system relatively straightforward and will form a
key part of the IT solution needed to make the CSC a success"
says Chris Williams, Project Manager at Bristol City Council.
MAYRISE is a complete management system that holds all asset
and service information and is used to schedule and monitor
different council services. The software automates many administrative
tasks and eliminates paperwork through on-screen forms and
electronic communication.

From Environmental Data Interactive, UK,
11 April 2003

E-government Projects
High on Agenda in Western Europe, Survey

A series of studies on the status of
e-government initiatives in the UK, France, Germany, and Italy,
from market researchers IDC, has shown how these countries
are making significant progress towards meeting the EU 2005
deadline for the electronic delivery of a wide range of services
to internal customers, partners, and citizens. According to
the survey results and forecasts, e-government-related IT
spending by UK, French, German, and Italian public-sector
administrations is expected to peak in 2004 and grow significantly
by the end of 2006, focusing on the deployment of IT solutions
in the deployment of electronic service delivery, to improve
interaction with citizens through governmental portals, call
centres, and online counters centred on user rather than service
type; the development of e-procurement, to cut purchasing
costs and enhance procurement process transparency and price
competition; and the implementation or modernization of nationwide
networks that support information sharing among administrations.
Each country faces a unique set of challenges in implementing
an effective e-government strategy. Although the UK government
sector is late on a few projects and has to deal with the
hurdle of organisational change and complex relationships
with private-sector partners, the well-formulated strategy,
the organised supporting structure, and the fair economic
outlook enabling government to allocate significant funds
to IT will prompt growing investments over the next few years.

Investments are expected to grow at
a double-digit rate, with a peak between 2004 and 2005. However,
central and local authorities have diverse needs and, most
importantly, diverse structures that require IT vendors to
differentiate their approach. One of the major action fields
of the French government strategy has been e-government. As
well as promoting internal process modernisation, the French
public sector has focused on enabling electronic transactions
between central and local agencies and constituents. This
transformation includes several initiatives, such as development
of websites, deployment of full online transactions, and e-procurement.
Given the current situation and the continuous attention to
these themes, IDC believes that France still has to work hard
on e-government and IT infrastructure, especially at the local
level, but it is in a good position to meet most of its e-government
targets and become one of the most advanced countries in the
implementation of the eEurope 2005 action plan. The German
government began its renovation effort with the modernisation
of internal processes to make sure that a customer-centric
view is supported by effective back-end activities.

Therefore, the implementation of outward-looking
IT systems started a little later than in other European countries.
However, the BundOnline 2005 programme, at the federal level,
and local initiatives have turned e-government into a top
IT priority. The analysts argue that IT vendors have the opportunity
to bring in critical competencies to ensure that the 2005
deadline is met both centrally, where plans have already been
formulated, and locally, where many authorities are still
in the early stage of their e-government strategies. Despite
lagging in IT investment compared to other major Western European
states, Italy has implemented some leading-edge solutions
in the area of e-government. The early development of a successful
e-procurement platform helped the Italian government to understand
that improving accessibility, responsiveness, and the quality
of services delivered to citizens through the implementation
of multi-channel electronic solutions is a major opportunity
to enhance social and economic competitiveness. Therefore,
strategic plans and investments in e-government are set to
rise in coming years.

From Europemedia.net, Netherlands, 11 April
2003

Public Sector, Stanca:
Before Year-end "Yellow Pages" of On-line Services

Caserta - Before the end of the year,
consumers and businesses will receive the "Yellow Pages"
of Public Sector services available on-line. Lucio Stanca,
Minister of Innovation and Technology, announced the news
at a training course in "Innovation and Communication"
for Government executives taking place in Caserta. The publication,
entitled "Avoid cues with clicks", will be presented
to the Public Administration Forum planned for May 5 - 9 in
Rome and following this event a few million copies will be
distributed, at all Public Sector offices and post offices.

From Agenzia Giornalistica Italia, 16 April
2003

Stanca, A National
Pact for Innovation

Udine - "A national pact to relaunch
and develop innovation in Italy. A few months away from the
Italian EU presidency, and while international competition
is strengthening, the proposal of a sort of transversal technological
and technical coalition has come from Lucio Stanca, Minister
for Innovation and Technology, at a conference in Udine. "We
need to put together a pact for innovation where the lack
of innovation in Italian businesses does not only weigh down
their competitiveness, but the development of the entire country.
And, so, there must be structural action taken by the government,"
the minister explained, "not so much to support our industry,
which has relevant potential in a bad business climate, as
to give a boost to business that do not innovate". With
this innovation pact," according to Stanca, "everyone
has to do his part to do it together: the central and local
institutions, schools and universities, research, the public
sector, businesses and the communication world. In an increasingly
open, global, and competitive context, even in Italy we must
compete in intensity and distribution of innovation because
the challenge that we have before us is to choose a model
of development based on advanced skills and on innovative
technology, forgetting income and position. Italy, in this
sense, is now inexorably condemned to innovation".

From Agenzia Giornalistica Italia, 17 April
2003

Global E-government

UK tackles digital divide: The UK government
is trying to encourage more people to go on-line, particularly
the 38 percent of the adult population who have never used
the Internet before. The campaign by the Office of the e-Envoy,
due to begin next month, will aim to coax members of the public
to take advantage of free Internet services at more than 6,000
'UK On-line' centres around the country. Introductory tutorials
will be available for people who wish to learn how to access
the Internet, use e-mail and explore e-government services.
"The Internet plays an important part in everyone's life
and as more government services become available on-line we
want to ensure that people can take advantage of them,"
said e-Envoy Andrew Pinder. "In order to achieve this
goal, it is vital that we first address the issue of access."
In a second phase of the mission to get the UK on-line, government
campaigners will be sent out into towns and cities to recruit
the help of local authorities in raising awareness about e-government
services. Citizens blast Dutch e-government progress: The
government of the Netherlands has drawn public criticism for
its delivery of e-services.

The criticism follows a recent global
e-government report by consultancy giant Accenture, in which
Holland slipped two places in the annual rankings and was
described as being more focused on strategy than actual implementation
of e-services. A citizen's forum known as burger@overheid,
established by the Ministry of the Interior, has criticised
the government's unresponsiveness to e-mail and called for
it to reply promptly to complaints sent via e-mail. Meanwhile,
a second official advisory group called Advies Overheid has
accused the Dutch government of not taking the Internet seriously
enough. It said that although many government bodies run their
own Web sites, many do not even meet the minimum standard
required. It also claimed that many departments are slow to
change their bureaucratic attitude, which impedes the progress
of e-government. Americans divided on e-government: A new
study of attitudes toward e-government in the US shows that
citizens are divided on the subject of the submission of personal
information to government Web sites. "The New E-Government
Equation: Ease, Engagement, Privacy and Protection,"
released by the Council for Excellence in Government, found
that almost 45 percent of Americans surveyed strongly agreed
that government services would be improved if they disclosed
personal details on government Web sites. However, around
the same percentage said they felt they risked the security
and privacy of their personal data by doing so.

In other findings, around 60 percent
of those surveyed said they would be willing to use e-services
for everyday transactions with the government, such as renewing
drivers' licences or obtaining birth certificates. Still,
just 30 percent of respondents supported the idea of on-line
voting in elections, with 54 percent strongly opposed to it.
Survey respondents cited greater government accountability
as the chief benefit of e-government. Estonia's e-tax system
gains ground: Estonia's system of on-line tax filing is gaining
in popularity, with nearly 140,000 returns filed on-line this
year. The numbers are up from last year's approximately 83,000
returns and are remarkably high for a country with a population
of only 1.4 million. The surge in use this year has been partly
attributed to improvements in the system - this year the application
remained fully functional while over 14,000 returns were filed
on the last day of the tax year, 31 March. The "e-TaxBoard"
system, launched in October 2000, allows taxpayers to file,
view and edit their income tax returns on-line, as well as
to view their VAT returns and submit VAT refund applications.
The application is accessible from the Tax Board's Web site
and also from Internet kiosks that have been installed in
some banks around the country. Since last year, citizens have
been able to use their electronic ID cards to log in to the
system. New Zealand launches tax query e-mail service: New
Zealand's Inland Revenue department has become the first government
agency to implement a secure e-mail service for handling queries
from the public. The On-line Correspondence Service is the
second initiative in the department's "e-enablement programme"
- a series of 52 e-services planned for implementation by
2007.

The department has attracted criticism
recently for its inability to handle the volume of calls to
its call centres, which last year handled 5.5 million calls.
Until now, Inland Revenue has avoided entering into individual
correspondence via e-mail, largely due to concerns about privacy.
The new secure e-mail service addresses these concerns by
issuing users with a log-in ID and password, sent out in the
post, enabling taxpayers to electronically ask questions and
receive confidential replies from Inland Revenue. In a separate
initiative, the department is planning to make individual
and business accounts available for viewing on-line by July.
Belgium tests electronic ID cards: Belgium has launched the
pilot phase of its electronic identity card system. The EUR10
million pilot scheme will see the citizens of 11 municipalities
issued with ID cards, and the scheme, if successful, will
be rolled out to the rest of the population over a five-year
period, at a total cost of EUR100 million. The ID cards, which
will cost residents around EUR10 each, will replace the current
paper ID cards that are mandatory for all citizens and residents
of Belgium. The cards will contain the same data currently
featured on the paper ID cards, along with two electronic
signatures - one to be used for identifying the holder and
the other for the signing of electronic documents. If the
rollout is a success, Belgium will be the first European state
to issue electronic ID cards to its entire population.

From Electric News Net, by Sylvia Leatham,
17 April 2003

E-government Needs
Fixing, Warn Experts

Current efforts 'boring and tedious'
and show no understanding of e-delivery - Government groups
and technology suppliers are pessimistic about the potential
use of online government services unless current strategy
undergoes a rethink. At a roundtable meeting to discuss take-up
of UK government services, all due to be online by 2005, experts
slammed efforts to date. Joined-up thinking was still not
in evidence and a one-size-fits-all approach still prevalent,
they argued. Martin Cook, government sales manager at BBC
Technology, said: "Many websites are boring and tedious,
whereas the aim should be engagement." Information, he
added, should be tailored to meet the needs of all communities
in society and provided on a variety of devices, not just
the internet. "We need 'communitisation'. Structure the
information to engage the audience, whatever the audience
tends to be. For instance, older people want it structured,
kids want it jazzy." Paul Duffin, head of the corporate
applications unit within the National Probation Directorate,
part of the Home Office, suggested that convenience, saving
money and being provided with better information were the
three most important motivators for using a website. "The
problem is not really technical," he said. "The
real key is the actual application of [technical solutions].
Sometimes you need to change business processes." Derek
Estil, company secretary for the Beach Partnership, set up
by Blackburn and Darwen unitary authority, complained that
contradictory initiatives did not help. The council had put
computers in 2,500 households but a separate, massive house-building
programme for East Lancashire failed to include internet connection
infrastructure. "Without joined-up thinking it is very
hard," he said. There was also little optimism about
innovation. David Lynam of Lockheed Martin summed up the mood.
"If you don't want to change your organisation you won't
have a joined-up structure. New technology plus old business
processes equals very expensive new technology," he said.

From VNUNet, UK, by Peter Williams, 15 April
2003

UK E-government Spending
Nears Peak

But suppliers must vary approach from
local to national government, warns report - Spending on IT
to meet e-government targets in the UK will peak between 2004
and 2005, but suppliers have been warned to vary their approaches
to local and central governments. A report from analyst firm
IDC predicts that the growth rate of government IT-related
spending in the UK, France, Germany and Italy will peak in
2004, hitting double figures before settling into a pattern
of steady growth. But Massimiliano Claps, analyst at IDC,
cautioned that e-government projects must improve service
levels if they are to be seen as a success, and internal working
practices also need to change alongside modernisation. "The
challenge of e-government is changing the organisation's internal
culture," Claps said, although he added that this did
not mean replacing large numbers of people with technology.
Dave Meaden, public sector managing director at IT supplier
Northgate, which supplies about 150 local authorities, agreed.
"If they just implement IT it will not work, because
they have to introduce better working practices as well to
improve services," he said. The report also cited the
diverse structure and different priorities within UK local
and national government as a major challenge for suppliers,
who "need to differentiate their approaches". There
was no definitive model, IDC said. Meaden said challenges
occur when local authorities attempt to deploy central policy,
because the environments and aims are different. "You
will never get one size fits all because of the different
communities they serve," he said. But the UK government
has so far been successful in ensuring autonomy, he added.
"The central government has not dictated how e-government
should be done because it realises local government is always
going to be different to central government."

From VNUNet, UK, by Karl Flinders, 14 April
2003

Skills Gap for Local
e-Government

Councils attempting to push on with
e-government are facing skills gaps, an official report says
- Most local authorities know that e-government is important
but few officers and elected members actually have the necessary
skills and understanding to push forward their aims, according
to a Whitehall report. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's
survey of English councils to be published in May 2003 finds
that while 97% have a senior officer to lead e-government
efforts almost three quarters report that their staff "lack
sufficient skills and understanding in relation to e-government".
Officials fare worse than elected representatives, with 69%
of councils identifying skills gaps among officers while 51%
say that members have poor e-government skills. Also lacking
are the broader business skills often associated with e-government.
Over 80% of councils think their officers don't have "change
management" and "process reengineering" skills.
Councils are attempting to provide training with 94% helping
their officers and 79% supporting members, but this is done
on an "ad hoc basis" the report says. The report
also says there is a "mixed picture" of how effectively
councils are implementing e-government. It says that while
most (80%) manage and identify risk with e-government projects
only 20% have worked out the costs and benefits of their overall
programme.

From Kablenet, UK, 22 April 2003

New Survey Reveals
State of Local e-Government

Councils in England are beginning to
see the benefits and far-reaching implications of e-government,
but a lack of sufficient skills and understanding across their
organisations is hindering their progress, a new government
report has found. Research commissioned by the Office of the
Deputy Prime Minister, which surveyed every English local
authority, claims to have found widespread evidence that e-government
is having a positive impact on access to council information
and services, increasing the take-up of local services and
encouraging flexible working. However it also shows that many
are less convinced on whether e-government is helping to reduce
the costs and staff time involved in providing information
- with most reporting no change at all and one in five noting
their costs have actually increased. A key issue for local
authorities highlighted by the report is the capacity of council
officers and elected members to understand and deliver e-government,
with almost three quarters identifying skills gaps, particularly
in change management. Over half of councils report their officers
lack the ability to evaluate or analyse the costs and benefits
of e-government projects, and almost seven out of ten councils
said members do not appreciate how e-government contributes
to their strategic objectives. Notably, almost one in five
local authorities said a lack of leadership and drive from
chief executives, members or senior officers was creating
difficulties when trying to set up e-government partnerships.

Furthermore, around half have found
that incompatible IT systems can cause problems when trying
to work with other organisations. Key findings from the survey
include: - Only 20 per cent of all councils present multi-lingual
information via their e-enabled access channels, although
the figure is higher for London Boroughs - 37 per cent of
local authorities - representing 101 councils - do not have
a corporate eGovernment strategy in addition to their Implementing
Electronic Government (IEG) statement; a further 27 per cent
are developing one - Virtually all authorities now have senior
officer and elected member e-champions - 21 per cent are currently
developing a dedicated, comprehensive training programme for
e-government - Almost three-quarters have procedures in place
to measure improvements in internal efficiencies due to eGovernment
- 84 per cent turn to external organisations for advice on
procuring IT systems - most often from other local authorities
or the private sector; a third seek advice from three or more
different organisations - 68 per cent of councils consult
other local authorities when drawing up eGovernment strategies
or IEG statements - Few local authorities do not provide access
to an intranet for any of its officers and members - London
Boroughs tend to provide IT facilities to a higher proportion
of their officers and members than all other types of authority
- 91 per cent work in partnerships with other local authorities
in relation to eGovernment; districts tend to form partnerships
with their county councils - Most county councils and unitaries
now have eGovernment partnerships with private technology
suppliers - Local authorities are divided over whether suppliers
actually understand their requirements when procuring e-systems
and services - Around half are making efforts to involve local
businesses in developing their eGovernment programme - 57
per cent state they are developing arrangements to monitor
the impact of eGovernment on levels of public involvement;
a third report an increase in public participation. "Local
authorities recognise the objectives and potential benefits
of eGovernment, particularly in terms of service delivery,
and understand the challenges that eGovernment presents",
the report concludes. "They are however, cautious about
making radical and costly changes. "This coupled with
current capacity constraints may explain why many local authorities
seem to favour a piecemeal approach to the implementation
of eGovernment and are making changes in a more ad-hoc and
informal way." Findings from the survey will feed into
a detailed evaluation of eGovernment processes which is due
to be published in the Autumn.

From Europemedia.net, Netherlands, 23 April
2003

Local E-government
Skills Gap

An official report due next month will
highlight a skills shortage for local authorities trying to
move further towards achieving e-government aims, according
to KableNet.com. The report, to be published by the Office
of the Deputy Prime Minister, follows a survey of English
councils. It will state that, although 97% of local authorities
have a senior officer in charge of e-government, nearly three-quarters
feel staff "lack sufficient skills and understanding
in relation to e-government". The report's findings also
show that council officers lack the business skills required
with e-government, and that officers' skills are perceived
as being lower than those of elected representatives. The
report also found that, although training was widespread,
it was generally on an ad hoc basis.

From Human Resources-Centre, UK, 23 April
2003

Netshift Tackles E-government
Gap

Software firm Netshift is targeting
local authorities in the UK with the launch of new Community
Information Solutions aimed at helping them meet the 2005
deadline to deliver government services and transactional
facilities online. The company said the new offerings were
designed to speed up local government strategy by providing
ready-made applications, which are customised to meet all
e-government directives, for deploying government services
online. Solutions are available on indoor kiosks, outdoor
kiosks and PC terminals.

His Highness General Sheikh Mohammed
Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Crown Prince of Dubai and UAE Defence
Minister, urged the Dubai e-government to play a leading role
in creating greater opportunities for UAE nationals to be
gainfully employed and also to equip the youth with the necessary
skills that will help them to become effective contributors
in bringing about the transformation of Dubai into a digital
economy. He was visiting the Dubai e-Government stand at the
Career Fair 2003 on Monday April 21, 2003. His Highness instructed
the Dubai e-Government to spread the knowledge of IT throughout
the community and to encourage people to make greater use
of electronic services in all their governmental transactions.
"We are deeply encouraged by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed
Bin Rashid's visit and will fully implement his instructions
to boost the skills and opportunities for UAE nationals in
the Information Technology sector as well as open the doors
of opportunity for them within the government and private
sector enterprises. We are working hard to fulfill the vision
of His Highness to transform the nature of government services
and accelerate the move towards creating a technologically
developed society. Dubai e-Government is taking rapid strides
towards electronically integrating all the government services,"
said Salem Al-Shair, Director Services, Dubai e-Government.
"His Highness also instructed the Dubai e-Government
to conduct workshops and road shows that will persuade the
UAE youth to contribute effectively to make the Dubai e-Government's
achieve its objectives of providing e-Services to the residents
and business entities," Al-Shair added. Marwan Al Naqi,
Acting Manager, Community Outreach & Marketing, Dubai
e-Government gave His Highness Sheikh Mohammed a detailed
demonstration on the benefits the online recruitment facility
that the Dubai e-government is providing UAE nationals through
its portal www.dubai.ae.

From AME Info, United Arab Emirates, 22
April 2003

U.S. Gets e-Gov Bronze

The United States ranks third among
nations in its e-government efforts, trailing Canada and Singapore,
according to a new report from Accenture. Steve Rohleder,
group chief executive of Accenture's global government practice,
discussed the report in a keynote address and news conference
today at the FOSE conference in Washington, D.C. Accenture
conducted the study earlier this year. The firm divided e-government
efforts into five levels, or "plateaus," based on
the progress they've made. Only Canada has achieved the highest
plateau, referred to as "service transformation,"
said Vivienne Jupp, Accenture's managing partner of global
e-government services. The United States, Singapore and eight
other countries are at the fourth level, "mature delivery,"
she said. Service transformation means that the government
has mastered the issues surrounding delivery of services and
has turned its focus exclusively to building greater value
for citizens into the systems, and encouraging increasing
numbers of citizens to take advantage of them.

Most countries have achieved at least
basic online service delivery, Rohleder said, and they're
focusing now on improving their systems and trying to increase
usage. "It's what we saw in the commercial world three
to five years ago," he said. "You have to not just
put forms online," Jupp said. "Customer relationships
are now underpinning e-government." Singapore edged ahead
of the United States because of some innovative technologies,
Rohleder said. The country mounts inexpensive chips on cars,
for example, that can detect when the cars are driving on
a road where the government wants to curtail congestion. The
drivers get bills in the mail based on the chips' readings.
Rohleder said the relatively low levels of funding that Congress
appropriated for the e-gov initiatives in 2002 and 2003 are
not a serious hurdle for the effort. Creative uses of e-government
systems can save money, making up somewhat for low funding
levels. However, "There has to be some level of appropriation
for any initiative, to get it started," he said.

From FCW.com, by Michael Hardy, 8 April
2003

Lawmaker to Probe Results
of Agencies' R&D Spending, e-Gov Efforts

Providing grants for research and development
projects has long been a staple of federal government spending.
Now one lawmaker wants to take stock of those projects to
determine whether the government is getting value for its
investments. "I want us to find some better way of getting
our arms around the federal research agenda," said Florida
Republican Adam Putnam, chairman of the House Government Reform
Technology, Information Policy, Intergovernmental Relations
and the Census Subcommittee. "The federal government
spends a lot on R&D, whether it's [for the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention], development of biological
weapons" or other initiatives, Putnam said in an interview.
"I am not sure that any one person ... really has a grasp
on this federal research agenda. Where are we getting bang
for our buck? ... I'd like us to take a look at that."
Putnam wants to review research efforts at federal departments,
including projects that are outsourced to private institutions
and universities, to determine how well those programs are
managed. The Energy Department, for example, attracted scrutiny
after reports of lax security and financial abuses at Los
Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, which is managed
by the University of California system. Putnam's district
may well boast more orange orchards than high-tech concerns,
but his interest in information technology has put him squarely
in the path of several controversial issues, such as data
mining, that are among the federal government's counter-terrorism
and homeland security initiatives.

The subcommittee will hold a hearing
in early May to address the Pentagon's Total Information Awareness
program, which seeks to develop data-mining tools to search
both public and private databanks for information that could
halt potential terrorists. "I think there are some legitimate
issues for us to address, but I think the bulk of the data
mining that's going on today, and has been going on in the
public and private sectors, is a consolidation of existing
databases, existing information, exiting public records,"
Putnam said. "As we expand our knowledge of what [the
Pentagon] was up to ... we have an opportunity, and perhaps
an obligation, to begin laying out some markers for what's
appropriate." Putnam's subcommittee also plans to evaluate
the Bush administration's 24 e-government initiatives, which
seek to modernize the way government functions and make it
more citizen friendly by employing the Internet and other
technologies. In particular, the subcommittee in July plans
to address issues surrounding digital archives and the development
of standards to store electronic documents, Putnam said. But
"one of the recurring themes" that surrounds e-government
and R&D is the management of workers," he said. "We
have to invest in attracting bright capable, young professionals
in IT and information management and systems to the federal
government, and persuade them that it's a good place to spend
their time."

From GovExec.com, by Maureen Sirhal, 7 April
2003

Feds to Release Latest
E-Gov Plan

The Bush administration plans to release
its latest strategy for implementing the E-Government Act
on April 17, according to Mark Forman, associate director
of information technology and e-government at the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB). The plan will focus on better
use of enterprise licensing for purchasing software and how
to more fully leverage share-in-savings contracts where agencies
and contractors share the cost of a service and the contractors
are paid through savings gained. Forman said his new strategy
will also include how his office will deal with the massive
budget cuts proposed by Congress. the $397.4 billion omnibus
spending bill before Congress includes just $5 million for
the E-Gov Act. The proposed appropriation cuts by almost 90
percent the original $45 million slated for the program approved
amid much fanfare last November. The E-Gov Act seeks to make
government online services and information more helpful to
constituents. As administrator of the new agency, Forman will
implement e-government initiatives and oversee agencies' compliance
with relevant statutes. The bill also creates an E-Government
Fund that will invest in inter-agency projects with government-wide
application. The new legislation also: Authorizes funding
for improvement of the federal Internet portal, Firstgov.gov,
so that on-line government information and services are organized
"according to citizen needs, not agency jurisdiction.";
Requires regulatory agencies to conduct administrative rule-makings
on the Internet, and federal courts to post court information
and judicial opinions on their Web sites; Allows agencies,
scientists, policy makers and the public to have access over
the Internet to non-sensitive information about where federal
funds for scientific research are spent; Improves recruitment
and training for federal information technology professionals;
and Establishes "significant new privacy protections"
for personally identifiable information maintained by the
government.

From InternetNews.com, by Roy Mark, 3 April
2003

E-government Begins
With You

Technology consultant Bill Thompson
worries that we are losing the e-government plot. If you live
in Canada then there's a good chance you've used one of the
wide range of government services on offer, whether to pay
bills, file tax returns or apply for a gun licence. According
to a newly published study of global e-government from consultants
Accenture, with the snappy title e-government Leadership:
Engaging the Customer, over half of Canadian adults have used
one or more e-government services, and Canada is leading the
world in the adoption and use of internet technology in government.
If you live in the UK, however, then you are much less likely
to have turned to a .gov.uk website for help or assistance
- only one in 10 of us have ever bothered to use any of the
available services. Falling behind - In fact, over the last
year the UK has dropped from sixth to eighth place in the
international ranking of e-governments, and our progress has
slowed down significantly. Smaller countries like Finland
are doing far better and introducing new services, especially
transactional ones, which let users do something instead of
just getting information. It is not only UK central government
that has problems. The local government Improvement and Development
Agency, IDeA, has just criticised the way local authorities
take on projects to deliver services electronically. In Government
Computing News, IDeA consultant Fred Baron says there is a
danger of getting 'bogged down' in the intricacies of the
project instead of focusing on providing a good service to
people. While there are some examples of good practice, he
says, there is a need to look for projects that will make
a real difference to the public.

Cutting cash - The bad news about UK
e-government comes soon after the budget for the office of
e-envoy Andrew Pinder has been cut by a quarter. Responsibility
for many of the big cross-departmental projects has been taken
away from him and given back to the departments concerned.
Given their poor track record and the evident unwillingness
of any part of Whitehall to give up power and influence just
to make our lives easier, this is a worrying step backward.
Things could get worse if Pinder decides the time has come
to return to industry after two years in the firing line.
The prime minister may decide that it is not worth replacing
him, and distribute his team and their remaining responsibilities
around the Cabinet Office's delivery team, making e-government
just another aspiration for ministers and their departments.
While our e-envoy may not have set the world on fire, or inspired
a radical and innovative approach to e-government, he is at
least a figurehead with an office, a budget and team of committed
people pushing in the right direction. Click here to tell
us what you would like Bill Thompson to write about. The problem
may have been that he has too little power, and the wrong
job title. In Canada the government has its own "chief
information officer" and approaches the problems in the
same way many successful businesses do. There is a willingness
to accept that the internet opens up genuinely radical possibilities
for changing the way government interacts with citizens, rather
than just giving every department a poorly-designed and badly
maintained website.

Testing times - There is also an understanding
that this creates dangers as well as opportunities, with a
clear privacy policy and an attempt to engage with issues
like data sharing between departments instead of just going
ahead with it and hoping it all works. A government CIO sounds
more dynamic and important than an e-envoy, whose title that
smacks of the last days of Empire, diplomacy and visits to
strange lands where gunboats can always be called in to quell
the natives. I am not normally in favour of treating government
as if it is just a special type of company, or in re-labelling
citizens as "customers". Too often in the past it
has been used as an excuse to remove any form of democratic
accountability, cut staff and services and distance us from
any real relationship with our elected representatives. But
I think there is a strong case to be made for getting someone
senior, with a title to match, who can knock heads together
about e-government and how it is done properly. Of course,
we already have a minister with responsibility for "the
Cabinet Office's work in leading and supporting e-Transformation
in Government" - it's Douglas Alexander MP and he has
totally failed to make any impact at all. He needs to go before
he does any more damage. The time has come for the prime minister
to put a serious political figure in the role of chief information
officer for the government, with a seat at Cabinet and a roving
brief to ensure everyone else does what is needed. I would
suggest bringing Peter Mandelson in from exile to do it, but
I think he would be labelled "chief misinformation officer"
and fail to be taken seriously. But whoever it is, we need
them - and fast, if our current progress is anything to go
by.

From BBC, UK, 11 April 2003

E-Government Resources
Expand

Online services may next go portable
and personal. Millions of Americans turn to the Web to file
taxes, apply for student loans, and find social service benefits.
The next likely step for e-government: truly ubiquitous resources,
ranging from local to federal information and services, that
are portable, available on wireless devices, and perhaps even
personalized. The true potential of portable e-government
is still in the making, say business and government experts.
Progress and Plans - "In five years we'll live in a world
in which sensors will be tagging and tracking" transactions,
from paying taxes to delivering precise prescriptions to the
elderly, says Steve Rohleder, group chief executive at Accenture's
government operating group. The consulting company, formerly
associated with Arthur Andersen, is among the private-industry
entities assisting the government with deployment of its technology
initiatives. Accenture helped develop the online filing systems
for the Internal Revenue Service and the Free Application
for Federal Student Aid. The company recently surveyed global
e-government initiatives and rated U.S. programs the second
most efficient behind those of Canada, largely because of
that country's work on a standard network backbone with hefty
cybersecurity. "E-government is not a static program
that can be put in place and left alone," Rohleder says.
For example, he'd like to see "one-stop shopping"
that bundles city, state, local, and federal services, and
makes them available to a variety of devices.

The U.S. focus on Internet services
lacks programs for wireless development, an area in which
Canada, Finland, and Singapore are making fast progress. The
U.S. National Guard is investigating ways to use electronic
services to mobilize soldiers faster, pay employees instantly,
and arrange medical logistics. "We're obviously not looking
at profit," says Maureen Lischke, chief information officer
of the National Guard, on the difference between governmental
programs and private industry. Rather, the government is aiming
to use online systems to improve and save lives. Good Response
- The E-Government Act of 2002 created and funded a federal
department to expand Web-based public services. The Office
of Electronic Government and Technology concentrates on creating
and improving the kinds of Web portals that have enabled people
to communicate with law enforcement and legislators for several
years. Into the FirstGov portal, launched in 2000, the federal
government assembled nearly 30 million Web pages. Once people
adopt interactive technology, they find coping without it
difficult, says Kim Satterthwaite, an Internet architect who
designs programs to serve citizens in Fairfax County, Virginia.
The Internet made people quickly forget the government phone
hot lines and mall kiosks that preceded it, she says. For
example, an FBI Web site launched in 2001 invites reports
of suspicious behavior. An FBI spokesperson says - contrary
to fears that bogus reports of dogs barking would flood the
system - the site has generated hundreds of leads in the fight
against terrorism. Web sites and e-mail addresses are as common
as phone numbers, Satterthwaite says. "If you don't have
a URL, where are you?" she asks rhetorically. She expects
people will soon adopt the same attitude about access to public
services on handheld devices.

Satterthwaite is developing a portable
device-enabled directory of Fairfax County government services.
In the future, people will swiftly check off chores on their
to-do lists and manage tasks such as extending a library book
due date through the distributed government services available
on wireless PDAs, she says. However, designers face a challenge
to create software that works on many different appliances,
Satterthwaite says. "We don't want to ... create something
for wireless if it can't go on the Web," she says. Getting
Personal - As government resources become more widely available
in electronic form, they may also become more specific. Accenture's
Rohleder says e-government services should consider how to
personalize their information. Like online shopping sites,
government Web portals should tailor their content to each
user, he says. Rohleder also foresees government using marketing
techniques such as direct mail and cash prizes to lure citizens
into using electronic services. Still, administrations at
local and national levels are trying to keep up with the advances
made during the dot-com boom of the late 1990s, Satterthwaite
says. They must determine how to present online information
in a user-friendly way, she says. For example, how can a city's
Web site help residents easily find what they nickname the
"pooper-scooper" law? And with greater concerns
about security, the government has a mission to provide information
and access while also protecting citizens. Department of Homeland
Security officials have pointed out the need to balance the
release of possibly sensitive information with the free-for-all
nature of the Internet. Meeting the challenge is vital during
heightened terrorist alerts, they note.

From PC World, by Elsa Wenzel, 10 April
2003

E-government Office
Set Up in White House

Washington - Efforts to make Uncle
Sam more accessible to citizens online will get a boost today
with the creation of an Office of Electronic Government within
the White House. The office is being created as part of the
E-Government Act of 2002, which became effective today. The
act gives greater prominence to efforts already underway within
the Bush Administration. Mark Forman, who has served as the
Administration's top e-government and information technology
official for the past couple of years, will head the new office.
The administration set out an e-government strategy in February
2002. Its goal is to cut through the bureaucracy to make it
easier for citizens to apply for benefits and obtain information
from federal agencies, while at the same time saving the government
money by cutting back on paperwork. In the past year, the
federal government launched "Regulation.gov", a
one-stop shop for citizens to find information on government
regulations that affect them or their businesses.

In the past, the information had to
be obtained by searching paper copies of the Federal Register
or going to individual agency Web sites. A key initiative
under the strategy was promoting free online tax filing. A
final count for this tax season wasn't yet available, but
Forman said the government surpassed its 2.4 million goal
last week. The Office of Electronic Government outlines its
2003 strategy in a document to be released today. Besides
making the government more accessible online, another key
initiative is to better coordinate and oversee the money federal
agencies are spending on information technology. "We're
not going to be stupid in the way we spend" money on
IT, Forman said in an interview. "If we're going to spend
more, it's going to be spent smarter and give us better results."
One goal for the 2004 fiscal year is to negotiate government-wide
software licenses, generating at least $100 million in savings.
Another is to reduce redundant IT spending.

From San Jose Mercury News, CA, by Heather
Fleming Phillips, 17 April 2003

Downtown Students Put
Local Government Online

Brattleboro - For years, people have
wondered about the status of the town's Web site. Now, more
than two years in the making, a rough draft of the site is
online at www.brattleboro.org . "It's been a huge job
but now I think we are near the finished product," said
Eric Achenbach, a teacher at the Brattleboro Union High School
Downtown Campus. For the past three school semesters, Achenbach
and dozens of high school students at the Downtown Campus
have been working on the Web site. The job has been difficult,
Achenbach said, as students and members of the town government
have struggled with numerous design layouts and the big question
of what to put on it. During Gallery Walk this Friday, people
are encouraged to drop by the Downtown Campus at 145 Main
Street to view the Web site and offer suggestions about what
sort of information and services they would like to see it
offer. "It's important to get the community involved
in this," Achenbach said. "Basically, (we're asking),
'what would make this Web site useful to you?'" The idea
of a town Web site was spearheaded by Sarah Edwards, then
a member of the selectboard and now a state representative.
Achenbach said Edwards approached him and the students with
a head full of ideas about what the site should offer. "The
main goal was to make the town government more accessible,"
he explained.

Currently, the Web site offers contact
information for nearly all the department heads of town government,
meeting times and dates, contact information for members of
the selectboard and a frequently-asked-questions section about
town services. As the site develops, Achenbach envisions it
offering downloadable copies of town forms and permits, meeting
agendas and minutes and town news updates. The town has been
looking into getting a Web site up for years, but the costs
always seemed too high and weren't figured into the budget,
said Town Manager Jerry Remillard. "We really needed
a way to get information to people in a better manner,"
Remillard said. "People should be able to know and understand
their local government and this is one more step toward that
goal." With the rotating students each semester at the
Downtown Campus, it has been difficult to get the site going,
said Achenbach. Much of the site work is done by the students,
who receive grades for their effort. While the experience
offers the opportunity for the students to stretch their creative
muscles and develop their talent, Achenbach sees another benefit
to the project. "Hopefully this will prove to the community
that teenagers can be resources," he said.

"It shows that teenagers are intelligent,
motivated and have artistic skills." While designing
a Web site might be more exciting than sitting in algebra
class, the experience also trains students to hone skills
they'll use in their careers, said Mark Anderson, a junior.
"It was difficult at first, but I started liking it more
and more," he explained. "This has made me consider
going into this field." Remillard praised both the students
at the Downtown Campus for their work and his executive secretary,
Cynthia Green, who coordinated the effort on the town's behalf.
"We really like what we've seen so far," Remillard
said. The site will never be completely done, Achenbach joked,
just as any other site on the Internet is never completed.
"The whole Internet should have an 'under construction'
sign on it," he said. Achenbach hopes suggestions for
the Web site pour in on Friday. He has already heard from
a number of people interested in volunteering their services,
such as one man who offered to take an aerial photo of the
town. "At the end of this semester we should have a really
useful site," he said. "At the end of next semester
we should have an even more useful site."

From Brattleboro Reformer, VT, by Daniel
Barlow, 3 April 2003

Canada Leads the World
in Online Government: Accenture

Ottawa - Canada leads the world in
applying Internet technology to government services, according
to a study by management consultancy Accenture. "Canada
was the first country to place its citizens and businesses
at the core of its strategy," says Graeme Gordon, an
Accenture Canada managing partner. "And Canada continues
to move towards the next evolution of e-government - it is
no longer a separate initiative but part of a wider service
transformation across all agencies and levels of government."
The motivation for putting government in Canada online has
advanced from mere cost reduction to "improving citizen
satisfaction," according to Accenture's fourth annual
international study. For the third year in a row, Canada ranked
first in "overall e-government maturity" among the
22 countries surveyed. Trailing Canada in electronic delivery
of government services were Singapore, the United States,
Denmark, Australia, Finland, Hong Kong, the United Kingdom,
Belgium, Germany, Ireland and France.

From Guelph Mercury, Canada, 14 April 2003

Survey Finds Americans
Split on 'E-Government'

A new survey on Americans' growing
relationship with "e-government" - government services
and information online - reflects their concerns about privacy
and security. The report said that 49 percent of its general
American population survey believe it is appropriate for the
government to search its existing databases for information
that could help it track down terrorists. But 42 percent disagreed,
believing that "protecting privacy should be a top priority."
Also, 52 percent of Americans, according to the survey, believe
that government investment in e-government would enhance homeland
security by helping agencies, such as the FBI, Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention and the police to share information
quickly and to better coordinate emergency response. But 36
percent said it would hurt homeland security, partly because
Internet technology might be vulnerable to attack. The survey,
the third annual on e-government, was conducted in February
by Hart/Teeter Research on behalf of the Council for Excellence
in Government, which has long supported expansion of e-government,
and Accenture, a consulting, management and telecommunications
company. The survey was to be released today. Patricia McGinnis,
chief executive of the council, said the survey shows "how
e-savvy people are becoming." According to the report,
68 percent have Internet access at home, school or work, and
seven in 10 go online at least once a day. Further, 50 percent
of all Americans and 75 percent of American Internet users
have used a government - federal, state or local - Web site
to get information or conduct a transaction.

Of those who go online, 66 percent
say they have used a credit card over the Internet, and 70
percent have bought a product or service. Although 70 percent
gave personal information to a commercial Web site to get
a product or service, only 29 percent did so to a government
Web site. Americans are generally accessing government Web
sites to get information - to find an office address or list
of services - but they also expressed interest in using government
Web sites for other purposes, such as renewing a driver's
license (61 percent) and determining eligibility for government
programs (59 percent). Although the survey report was optimistic
about the future of e-government, it noted that the "public
is not ready for online voting," noting that only three
in 10 supported the concept while 54 percent strongly opposed
online voting and 13 percent somewhat opposed it. The survey
also found opposition to a voluntary national identification
card with personal information in digital form, "a controversial
extension of e-government." Despite the report's showing
of Americans turning to government Web sites, only 8 percent
said they were very familiar with e-government, a situation
that has not changed since 2001. But the report said this
indicates that although people may be familiar with specific
online government services, "they do not relate those
services to the broader concept of online government."

From Washington Post, by Judy Sarasohn,
13 April 2003

E-gov Is Easier, But
Citizens Worry About Security

E-government is making citizens' lives
easier. That ease is driving greater use of online government
services, but nonetheless, many Americans are seriously concerned
about the security and privacy of their online transactions
with government, according to poll results released April
14 by the Council for Excellence in Government. "The
more we know about citizens and e-government, the more we
see a tradeoff between convenience and ease of use and security
and privacy," said Pat McGinnis, president and chief
executive officer of the council, a Washington nonprofit,
nonpartisan group that works to improve government performance.
The poll was conducted in February by Hart-Teeter Research,
which surveyed 1,023 U.S. adults, including 603 e-gov users;
408 senior government employees; 2,013 Internet users in Spain,
Singapore, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia; and held
two focus groups in Tampa, Fla. The poll results have a margin
of error of plus or minus 3.1 percent. The study was underwritten
by Accenture Ltd. The Hamilton, Bermuda, company provides
management consulting and technology services. The study,
"The New E-government Equation: Ease, Engagement, Privacy
and Protection," showed that three-quarters of American
e-government users said online government information has
made their lives easier, and two-thirds said e-gov has made
it easier to conduct transactions with the government. "It's
not going to be used by everybody for everything, but we are
crossing over into another era, from listening and observing
government to doing business with government over the Internet.
If the good news is how well people are using this, the even
better news is how they feel about it," said Peter Hart,
chief executive officer of Peter D. Hart Research Associates.

The study defines e-government as agencies'
use of the Internet and other information technologies, including
making information available on Web sites, improving communication
between agencies, and allowing people to conduct business
online, such as filing taxes or receiving a service. Once
people try e-government services, they become converts, the
study showed. Of all adults surveyed, the greatest amount
- 38 percent - said they preferred in-person contact when
doing business with the government. But among e-gov users,
41 percent said they prefer to use the Internet to conduct
business with government. "If you've ever tried to call
one of the governments, you can be on hold for three days.
If you have the Internet, your answer might not be there,
but it might. You have another place to go," said one
focus group participant. The study "confirms what we
see every day," said Stanley Gutkowski, managing partner
of Accenture's USA Government unit. "Citizen interest
in electronically conducting transactions is growing every
day. We are on the cusp of an incredible increase in the use
of the Internet for transactions over the next several years."
Gutkowski said he wasn't surprised to see the convenience
of e-government counterbalanced by concerns about security
and privacy. "That has also been the case in the commercial
sector," he said. Asked what should be the government's
top priority for its Web sites, the greatest number of respondents
- 33 percent - said security. More than half of respondents
said the government should move slowly in expanding e-government
because of security and privacy concerns.

While the study showed that government
officials share the public's concerns about privacy and security,
the officials ranked security third among their priorities
for government Web sites. Just 20 percent of government employees
thought security should be the top priority. Making government
Web sites easier to use and understand was the officials'
top priority. "The survey findings suggest that senior
government employees may need to pay greater attention to
public concern about online privacy and security issues,"
the council's survey report said. "If they want to ensure
that Americans use e-government's powerful tools, they must
do more than post their security policy," on government
Web sites. As the government moves transactions online, "security
has to come along," said Mark Forman, associate director
of information technology and e-government in the Office of
Management and Budget. At an April 8 congressional hearing,
Forman said agencies have shown substantial improvements in
IT security. Sixty-one percent of agencies have security plans
in place, compared with 40 percent the year before, and 47
percent of IT systems have been certified and accredited for
security, he said. But the General Accounting Office concluded
that information security weaknesses at 24 major agencies
place federal operations and assets at risk.

Forman said the survey showed that
government officials need to do a better job of informing
the public about online government services. Twenty-four percent
of respondents who were asked what held them back from using
online services said they couldn't find the right Web site.
"We have to do a better job of getting the word out,"
Forman said. The study indicates that e-gov expansion may
in fact be slowing, but Forman said that's not likely the
case. The council's November 2001 study reported that 87 percent
of government officials said their agency or division made
significant additions or changes to its public Web site within
the past year; 74 percent of government officials said the
same thing in the 2003 survey. In addition, this year 46 percent
said their agency or division is not working on a major project
in which the Internet or other information technology plays
a central role. This figure is up from 31 percent in November
2001. The data probably is a reflection of governments' greater
emphasis on cross-agency e-government projects, not a slowing
of e-gov efforts, Forman said. "The killer app used to
be the agency Web site. Now they are seeing funding divert
to cross-agency solutions," which takes attention away
from individual agency projects, he said.

From Washington Technology, by Gail Repsher
Emery, 15 April 2003

Interior e-gov Tack
Irks GIS Vendors

GIS Consortium, vendor work on parallel
tasks - Under pressure to get the Geospatial One-Stop portal
up and running, the Interior Department has created a stir
by pitting one of the leading geographic information system
(GIS) vendors against the work of an industry consortium.
The Web-based portal, one of 24 governmentwide initiatives
led by the Office of Management and Budget, will house geospatial
information and services supplied by federal, state and local
agencies. Instead of having to search multiple sites and deal
with data stored in different formats, users will turn to
Geospatial One-Stop for all their GIS needs. In December 2002,
Interior partnered with Open GIS Consortium (OGC) Inc., an
international group of 254 companies, government agencies
and universities, giving it $450,000 to develop a prototype
and underlying architecture. The consortium's main thrust,
which made it a natural for the project, is the formation
of open specifications that enable interoperability. But after
forging an agreement, some Interior officials had second thoughts.
Besides being one of the Bush administration's highly touted
e-government initiatives, Geospatial One-Stop is eagerly anticipated
by the first responder community as a much-needed resource
for maps and other geographic data.

Later, at a meeting in February, the
Geospatial One-Stop board of directors voted to strike a second
agreement with ESRI, an OGC member. The company, which had
pitched the department an unsolicited proposal, received $375,000
for a Web portal prototype. Now, in an ironic twist, the portal
- whose aim is interconnectivity - has divided the GIS community.
"There's quite a lot of confusion about the process of
Geospatial One-Stop, and the OMB could help by adding public
clarity to the situation," said Tim Milovich, chief executive
officer of Questerra LLC, an OGC member. Consortium members
believed their prototype would serve as the basis for a future
procurement, not as a procurement itself. "The lack of
clarity in the situation as developed creates a perception
that OGC and its member team are competing with another member,"
said Jeff Burnett, the consortium's vice president of operations
and finance. "That's simply not in the interest of any
members. If this had been set up as a competition for the
prototype, then OGC would not have bid. "Its members
would have been the entities to bid," he continued. "Basically,
we're not the vendor." For its part, Interior maintains
that heightened expectations and increased urgency forced
it to take a second look.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency
"and folks in homeland security and the emergency response
community are very interested in getting access to geospatial
information as soon as possible," said Scott Cameron,
Interior's deputy assistant secretary for performance and
management. "We need to get something out there in the
near term that the community can use." As a result, Interior
moved from seeking a working prototype to a production prototype,
and that prompted it to consider a commercial-off-the-shelf
solution. The demands on the department reflect Geospatial
One-Stop's importance to first responders. Firefighters, police
officers and emergency medical technicians rely on geospatial
information to mitigate and respond to disasters, including
natural catastrophes and terrorism. Right now, much of the
data is difficult to access. "Homeland security is very
concerned about first responders," said Carol Kelly,
vice president of strategy for META Group Inc. "This
is serious stuff. We're trying to get the gaps closed as quickly
as we can." OGC saw the prototype as the opposite of
a competition, as a chance to cooperate across companies.
"There is a willingness among the vendor community to
make this work as a team," said George Moon, chief technology
officer at MapInfo Corp., an OGC member. But business is business
and ESRI spotted an opportunity, observers say. "ESRI
has an excellent reputation and a lot of people consider them
the top in their field," said Larry Allen, executive
vice president of the Coalition for Government Procurement.

The company is behind the Bureau of
Land Management's GeoCommunicator portal, experience that
factored into Interior's decision to give it a go, according
to Cameron. "We've done lots of work doing similar kinds
of things," said Pete Bottenberg, a senior consultant
at ESRI, which is working on the prototype. Also potentially
acting in the com-pany's favor is its selection by Interior
last December as its GIS standard. To some OGC members, ESRI
appears to have stepped outside the circle of collaboration,
ruffling feathers along the way. "It should be beyond
any single corporate ego," Moon said. Others blame OMB
and Interior for failing to make their intentions clear. "The
consortium at the top was an anomaly. A little competition
is a good thing," Allen said. It would have been better,
however, to take a dual approach from the start, he said.
"I can certainly understand that the timing would raise
some questions." OMB officials could not be reached for
comment. Timing is the issue for Interior officials as well.
They want to have a fully functioning portal available by
the end of May and worry that OGC might not be ready. "The
OGC process is going to involve a wider variety of players,"
Cameron said. "The more people that are involved in the
development of a project, the greater the likelihood it may
take you longer to get there." Not so, according to the
consortium. "OGC is confident that its member team will
deliver its prototype and reference architecture on time,"
Burnett said, adding that "because the portal is being
implemented at the national level by the federal government,
OGC believes it should represent the diversity of technology,
services and data that exist and are being developed around
the country." Both OGC and ESRI are planning prototypes
that use open standards, officials said.

From FCW.com, by Megan Lisagor, 13 April
2003

E-gov Graduate Leads
the Way

The National Defense University graduated
the first student from its new eGovernment Leadership Certificate
Program. Judith Oxman, chief of network services and operations
contracting at the Defense Information Systems Agency, finished
the eight required courses and received her certification
April 11. "The reason I did it is because technology
is changing so fast," Oxman said. "One of the big
initiatives in government is e-gov [and] getting information
to citizens more quickly and accurately." Oxman said
the program presented how technology can be used and data
can be protected "in ways we haven't thought of before."
The program also "provides you with a network of other
people in government and industry that you can collaborate
with. We don't want to reinvent the wheel." The university's
Information Resources Management College began offering the
masters-level program in September 2002 after announcing its
creation in July. It now has more than 100 enrolled students
- about 75 percent of whom come from the Defense Department,
said Linda Massaro, a senior fellow at the university's IRM
College.

Other students come from civilian agencies,
including the Environmental Protection Agency, the General
Accounting Office, the Internal Revenue Service and the Federal
Aviation Administration. "We're really pleased the program
has been so popular," Massaro said. To receive the certification,
students must complete, within four years, eight courses selected
from 14 available courses. The school developed three new
courses for this program: Transforming to eGovernment; Services
Planning for Improved Government Performance; and Security,
Privacy and Access Issues in eGovernment. In general, the
program is designed to help senior executives manage programs
that cut across organizational lines as they work to implement
e-government in their agencies. The college soon plans to
announce partnerships with other universities that would allow
a student who completes the eGovernment Leadership Certificate
Program to apply those credits toward a graduate degree at
another school, Massaro said. The certificate program is free
to DOD employees. Tuition for other employees is $900 per
course. Military personnel must hold the rank of 0-5 or higher
and civilians must be grade GS-15 or higher. Students can
take a single class, however, "we encourage them to consider
the program," Massaro said.

From FCW.com, by Colleen O'Hara, 15 April
2003

Americans Embracing
E-Gov Despite Privacy Concerns

While Americans are increasingly embracing
online government services, they are also concerned dealing
with government over the Internet may compromise their privacy,
according to a new study released by the Council for Excellence
in Government and Accenture. The study, The New e-Government
Equation: Ease, Engagement, Privacy and Protection, was conducted
by Hart-Teeter Research and found that more than 60 percent
of Americans who use the Internet are interested in using
e-government for conducting activities such as filing a change
of address, responding to a jury summons, renewing a driver's
license, or obtaining a birth certificate or marriage license.
Nearly 45 percent of Americans agree that if they submit personal
information about themselves to government Web sites, government
will be able provide them with better services. However, nearly
the same percentage believes that if they submit personal
information to government Web sites, it may risk the security
and privacy of their personal information. "The results
of this poll bring a complex challenge into clear focus. Americans
want easy, efficient and effective e-government.

Just as important, they want their
privacy protected," said Patricia McGinnis, president
and CEO of the Council for Excellence in Government. "Striking
that balance is the next important evolution in the e-government
revolution and will require the efforts of both government
and the technology community to apply the appropriate safeguards
and build trust in using government Web sites." The study
also makes the case that Americans believe that e-government
is a critical tool to fight terrorism and strengthen homeland
security. More than half of all Americans and half of all
e-government users believe that investing in e-government
will help homeland security by allowing government at all
levels to share information, coordinate responses to emergencies
quickly, and engage and inform citizens. Half of all Americans
also believe it is appropriate for the government to search
its existing databases for information that could help them
track down and catch terrorists. The study included surveys
of 1,023 adults nationwide, including an over sample of 202
government Web site users, and 400 government decision makers
(200 at the federal level, 100 in state government, and 100
in local government). A best practice area survey of 254 randomly
selected Internet users in nine cities was conducted, as well
as a survey of 2,000 Internet users in Australia, Canada,
Singapore, Spain and the United Kingdom.

The public opinion survey has a margin
of error of plus or minus 3.1 percent and was conducted in
February. The study was the third in a series of annual e-government
polls conducted on behalf of the Council for Excellence in
Government, a non-partisan, non-profit organization of leaders
in the private and non-profit sectors. More than two-thirds
(67 percent) of e-government users -- defined as those American
Internet users who have accessed a government Web site --
say that conducting transactions with government is easier
because of e-government. Nearly three-fourths (74 percent)
of the same group believe that the benefits of e-government
will only grow and have a positive effect on the way government
operates over the next 5-10 years. "The results of this
survey are testimonial that the President's E-gov initiatives
are truly transforming government, making access to and transactions
with the government easier for citizens," said Mark Forman,
associate director of Technology and E-government at the Office
of Management and Budget. "The findings will be useful
for refining the work we are doing to increase the government's
capability to interact with the citizens on their terms and
better fulfill their needs."

From InternetNews.com, by Roy Mark, 15
April 2003

E-Government Plan Short
on Cash

An "e-government" program
to make the federal government more citizen-friendly is $40
million short of its intended budget, potentially hurting
White House efforts to bolster public access to important
information and services, experts said. The Bush administration's
E-Government Strategy, unveiled today, is aimed at helping
federal agencies communicate better so they can make government
regulations, services and other kinds of information more
available to the public. The White House requested $45 million
to put the program in action this year, but Congress cut that
amount to $5 million. President Bush has asked Congress to
spend $345 million for the program over four years. Mark Forman,
head of the e-government office at the White House Office
of Management and Budget, today acknowledged that the shortfall
is an obstacle, but said that the government still must carry
out the plan. "Does it mean we can't do these initiatives?
We have to. Our workaround is basically to tighten up on the
financing strategy," he said. Elena Larsen of the Pew
Internet and American Life Project said the e-government office's
budget is too little money to make a big difference at first.
"Five million dollars is a drop in the bucket in many
federal budgets.

It doesn't cover any staff members,
it doesn't cover a whole lot of technology needs, and I would
imagine that their progress toward their goal of seamless
[government] would be greatly slowed by having their budget
cut to 1/9th of what they had originally asked for,"
she said. House Government Reform
Committee spokesman David Marin was more blunt. "Five
million [dollars] doesn't get the job done," he said.
Forman said today that the White House wants to restore the
amount it originally requested for e-government spending this
year. Ari Schwartz, associate director at the Center for Democracy
and Technology, said that cutting e-government funding will
cost the government more money in the long run. "It's
always easier to cut a new program than an existing program,"
Schwartz said. "These are projects that would save money
in other areas." The Bush administration's e-government
plan includes dozens of other goals besides increased information
sharing, such as modernizing government technology and insuring
that computer networks are safe from online attacks. The government
already has built several online resources to improve public
accessibility, including Web sites like egov.gov, regulations.gov,
volunteer.gov, the IRS Free File system and businesslaw.gov.

A General Accounting Office report
released last November said that federal agencies need to
do more to help the fulfill the e-government mission of focusing
on citizens. Only 8 percent of the American population is
familiar with the term "e-government," according
to a study released this week by the Council for Excellence
in Government. Half of the American population has used a
federal, state or local government Web site to get information
or conduct transactions, the study showed. About 52 percent
of Americans are concerned about how the government will use
their personal data, the study also found, noting that only
29 percent of Americans polled gave their personal data to
a government Web site, compared to 70 percent who gave such
data to a commercial Web site. The report also found that
61 percent of Americans are interested in using the Internet
to renew their drivers' licenses, but that 54 percent oppose
online voting.

From Washington Post, by Robert MacMillan,
17 April 2003

E-Gov Strategy Sets
Goals

The administration is raising the bar
for agencies trying to get top rankings on the President's
Management Agenda's electronic-government scorecard. The administration's
"E-Government Strategy," released April 17, outlines
six criteria for receiving a green score - ranging from having
business cases for all major information technology investments
to participating in at least three governmentwide e-government
initiatives. So far, only the National Science Foundation
has achieved a green score for its e-government efforts, while
17 agencies received green scores for progress they had made
in the last three months of 2002. E-government is one of five
areas agencies are rated on under the administration's management
scorecard. The standards agencies have to meet to gain the
top score are better defined than in the past, said Mark Forman,
administrator of e-government and information technology at
the Office of Management and Budget. "There is more specificity
and more measures for information security," Forman said.
In fact, information security could be the highest hurdle
for agencies.

An agency must be able to document
that 90 percent of its major information systems are secure.
In 2002 only 47 percent of agency systems had such documentation.
An information security officer at the State Department said
that while most of that agency's information security systems
have adequate security, only 3 percent had the documentation
to meet scorecard's goal. "The problem is that we are
busy operating the systems and no one has given us the permission
or the money to stop operating the systems so we can document
them," he said. To get a green score for e-gov, agencies
also must focus IT investment on important agency missions,
back up major IT investments with business cases, have an
information security plan that is verified by the inspector
general, participate in cross-agency e-government programs,
and meet specific standards for delivering IT projects on
schedule and within budget.

From Federal Times, by Karen Robb, 18 April
2003

Maryland
Adds E-gov Features to Its Medicaid System

Maryland's Health and Mental Hygiene
Department went live last week with its eMedicaid system to
streamline the Medicaid process and reduce the paperwork burden
on its 56,000 health care providers. USinternetworking Inc.
of Annapolis, Md., is rolling out the eMedicaid system, which
will be used by hospitals, doctors, dentists, pharmacists-"anybody
who bills the Medicaid program," said Alan Shugart, director
for systems and operations for the department's Office of
Operations and Eligibility-Medical Care Programs. USi's one-year
contract is worth $612,000 for the first year with an option
for renewal for another year. Providers can enroll via a Web
site secured with Secure Sockets Layer encryption and passwords.
The system's privacy safeguards will also help the state comply
with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act
of 1996, Shugart said. Privacy of patient health data "was
one of the big concerns about putting it on the Web,"
he said. The site uses middleware and USi's AppHost service
to access the state's legacy DB2 database, which resides on
a mainframe. Participants will be able to find out if their
Medicaid claim will be paid or denied when it is processed,
without having to wait for a paper notice in the mail, Shugart
said. The focus of eMedicaid is better customer service, Shugart
said. It will give health care providers around-the-clock
accessibility, he said. And because users won't have to spend
so much time tracking documents, they can spend more time
working on larger problems, such as why claims are denied.
The eMedicaid system is not about billing or claims submissions,
Shugart said. It's a communication tool. It's also part Maryland's
larger plan to ensure that 80 percent of all state government
services are online by 2004. The state processes more than
36 million Medicaid claims each year, Shugart said.

Washington, DC - Entrust solution enables
the Department to comply with Government Paperwork Elimination
Act and meet strict directives of its E-Government Strategic
Plan - Entrust, Inc. (NASDAQ: ENTU), a leader in securing
digital identities and information, today announced that the
U.S. Department of Labor has selected the company's digital
identity and information security solutions to help fulfill
many of the Department's electronic service delivery objectives.
The Department's objectives include initiatives that drive
cost savings and increased efficiencies that are also mandated
by the 1998 Government Paperwork Elimination Act (GPEA) and
more recently established under the Department's E-Government
Strategic Plan. In particular, the Department required a security
solution that can be certified with the U.S. Federal Bridge
Certification Authority (FBCA) and meets General Accounting
Office (GAO) requirements for financial disbursements. The
Department was also motivated by the GPEA requirement for
Federal agencies to enable the use and acceptance of electronic
documents, signatures and record keeping by fiscal year-end,
September 30, 2003.

To meet these requirements, Department
officials will use digital signatures from Entrust that can
be easily deployed and administered by government personnel.
"The U.S. Department of Labor is making enormous strides
in transforming the agency into a true 'digital department'
as outlined in their E-Government Strategic Plan," said
Bill Conner, chairman, president and chief executive officer
of Entrust. "In the process, they have set an aggressive
timetable aimed at garnering the enormous productivity gains
and cost reductions that can be realized through the use of
digital signatures and information security." Entrust
is a leading security solution provider for more than 320
global government customers, including the U.S. Federal Government
which has deployed cyber security solutions in more than 50
Federal departments and agencies, including Department of
Energy, United States Drug Administration (USDA), Treasury
Department, Federal Deposit Insurance Company (FDIC), NASA,
U.S. Patent and Trade Office (USPTO) and more. Additionally,
Entrust solutions power the Federal Bridge Certification Authority,
which enables Federal agencies to securely communicate and
share information. In fact, Entrust serves as the security
technology provider to three out of the four agencies that
are currently up and running and connected via the Federal
Bridge (Treasury, USDA and NASA).

About Digital Signatures Digital signatures
provide unique capabilities for securing digital information;
for example, they enable the recipient to verify the authenticity
of the information's originator. In addition, a verified digital
signature assures the recipient that the information has not
been tampered with since it was originally signed. These two
benefits of digital signatures are essential for enabling
secure online transactions and information distribution. About
Entrust - Entrust, Inc. (Nasdaq: ENTU) is a world leader in
securing digital identities and information, enabling businesses
and governments to transform the way they conduct online transactions
and manage relationships with customers, partners and employees.
Entrust's solutions promote a proactive approach to security
that provides accountability and privacy to online transactions
and information. Over 1,200 enterprises and government agencies
in more than 50 countries use Entrust's portfolio of security
software solutions that integrate into the broad range of
applications organizations use today to leverage the Internet
and enterprise networks. For more information, please visit
http://www.entrust.com. Entrust is a registered trademark
of Entrust, Inc. in the United States and certain other countries.
In Canada, Entrust is a registered trademark of Entrust Limited.
All Entrust product names are trademarks of Entrust, Inc.
or Entrust Limited. All other company and product names are
trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

From PRNewswire, 24 April 2003

Expanding E-Government

The Internet has allowed many Americans
faster access to government, whether it's to find a ZIP code,
renew a driver's license, file a tax return, respond to a
jury summons, or even check the endangered-species list. More
than two-thirds of Americans now have Internet access at home,
work, or school. A remarkable 75 percent have visited a government
website, and a similar number say such sites make it easier
to stay informed about government services, according to a
survey by the nonpartisan Council for Excellence in Government.
But the survey also reveals some ambivalence about privacy
and more Internet access to government services. Forty-two
percent said that submitting personal information to government
sites may risk the security and privacy of that information.
Twenty-two percent said they're not confident about the protection
of their privacy online; 20 percent don't think the Internet
is secure. Thirty-three percent said the government's top
priority for its websites should be to make them more secure
for conducting business. Last year, Congress authorized $345
million for expanding e-government at the federal level over
the next four years. Yet congressional appropriators so far
have funded only $5 million of that amount for fiscal year
2003. It's up to the White House, Congress, and governmental
agencies to shepherd the fledgling e-government idea along.
As they do, they'll need to work to build both privacy safeguards
and trust. Meanwhile, end-users themselves have a responsibility
to become more educated and informed about security on the
Web.

From Christian Science Monitor, 23 April
2003

Separating E-Government
Hype from Reality

E-government initiatives worldwide
have been examined and re-examined by a host of research firms.
Noah Elkin reviews the latest reports on the subject, explaining
that even though near-future expectations may fall short,
governments concentrating on the proper areas can successfully
implement efficiencies down the road. According to a December
2002 report from Gartner, electronic government has fallen
into what the research firm terms the "trough of disillusion,"
following nearly a decade of hype about its promise and potential.
Gartner's near-term outlook is distinctly negative, predicting
that through the end of 2004, more than one-half of all e-government
initiatives worldwide will fail to deliver the level of service
demanded by both citizens and businesses, the inference here
being that applying private-sector benchmarks and operational
measures to public-sector projects vastly reduces the projects'
chance for success. Likewise, Gartner believes that government
e-procurement measures will have a middling success rate,
with over 50% of European Union initiatives, for example,
failing to achieve cost-savings targets by 2006.

From eMarketer, NY, by Noah Elkin, 23 April
2003

Global E-government

US trials wearable computers for emergency
response: The US Justice Department is piloting a set of crisis
response tools in Charleston, South Carolina. The National
Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center-Southeast
has selected Xybernaut Corp to integrate its wearable computing
technologies with products from Tactical Survey Group Inc,
a specialist in critical response technology. The equipment
will allow police, firefighters and other public safety workers
who are called up to deal with emergencies to formulate tactical
plans while on their way to the scene of a crisis, improving
operational efficiency. Xybernaut's Mobile Assistant wearable
computers also promise to make essential data continuously
available to emergency workers. The critical response tools
will be evaluated during training exercises and real critical
incidents throughout the rest of 2003. The results of the
pilot project will be shared nationally through the National
Institute of Justice's Office of Science and Technology. US
tests e-filing system for courts: Two counties in Texas are
trialing an electronic filing system for state and local courts.
The Web-based "eFiling for Courts" service, developed
by Microsoft and BearingPoint, enables attorneys to file on-line
any type of case document, whether criminal or civil, simple
or complex. Attorneys who register with the on-line service
must pay a fee for filing documents. Users can then log in
at any time to track the status of their documents and to
see whether they have been accepted by the court. Microsoft
and BearingPoint are offering the facility as a managed service,
which they say allows the courts to avoid making large capital
investments in the system.

The two firms signed an agreement to
develop the system with the TexasOnline Authority, the state
portal's governing body, in January 2002. Fort Bend and Bexar
counties launched pilots for the scheme last November, and
there are plans to expand the trials to another four counties
this summer, before taking the service nationwide. Dubai promotes
on-line recruitment facility: The government of Dubai is taking
advantage of the "Careers UAE 2003" employment fair
to highlight the recruitment services offered by the state's
e-government portal. The four-day careers conference, which
claims to be Dubai's largest dedicated jobs fair, brings together
public and private sector firms in the drive to recruit young,
educated UAE nationals. The Dubai e-Government stand will
provide information on career opportunities in government-owned
companies and within government departments. The portal site
www.dubai.ae has a job search facility designed to allow candidates
to browse all available vacancies across government departments.
The site also offers guides to employment regulations, crafting
a CV and cover letter and attending an interview. Career opportunities
with the Dubai e-Government initiative itself will also be
highlighted at the jobs fair. Scottish police use biometrics
to ID suspects: Police in Scotland are implementing a biometric
facial recognition system in an effort to speed up the process
of identifying suspects. IT services provider Steria has been
chosen to integrate biometric firm Imagis' ID-2000 face recognition
technology for the Grampian Police Force. The system will
be used to cross-check the police service's existing database
of images in order to confirm the identity of suspects. ID-2000,
a software program that identifies an individual using 692
facial descriptors, can search 15 million records for a match
within one minute.

The system works with all races and
genders and takes account of changes in hairstyle and facial
hair. ID-2000 uses a combination of spectral analysis and
3-D modeling to locate and fit a face. Spain steers entrepreneurs
on-line: Spain's Minister for Public Administrations, Javier
Arenas, recently declared that Spain would like to be ranked
among the top European nations with regard to e-government.
One of Spain's most successful e-government initiatives so
far is its "Virtual Entrepreneurial One-stop Shop."
Established in October 2002, the site, www.vue.es, has provided
information to over 60,000 visitors seeking details on how
to start up a business. The site is divided into three sections
guiding entrepreneurs through the entire start-up process,
and personalised advice is available from a "virtual
counsel," along with the facility to construct a customised
"roadmap" for starting up a business. Nearly 3,000
users have registered with the system, and over 4,000 personal
consultations and roadmaps have been requested. European Commission
voices concern over e-customs: The European Commission has
expressed fears that some countries may not meet the imminent
deadline for the implementation of the new Europe-wide e-customs
system. All EU member states have committed to implement the
New Computerised Transit System (NCTS) by 30 June. In addition,
the EU candidate countries and Switzerland, Iceland and Norway
are required to implement the system, which aims to make customs
administration more efficient and improve security against
fraud. In a recent report, the European Commission said that
it had "specific concerns" regarding the implementation
of the NCTS in Austria, Greece and Luxembourg. The report
also noted that Ireland, Belgium, Finland, France and Portugal
have "tight schedules in order to meet the deadline."

From Electric News Net, by Sylvia Leatham,
23 April 2003

GAMAP Realises Financial Transparency
for Local Government

Johannesburg - Comparex Africa is assisting
the SA government and local authorities in their drive to
boost financial accountability and transparency across the
country by enhancing its financial software solution in line
with the new General Accepted Municipal Accounting Practices
(GAMAP). GAMAP is based on Generally Accepted Accounting Principles
(GAAP) -a global best practice accounting standard. The changes
are being driven generally by the budgeting reforms set out
by the government's Financial Management Bill and specifically
by principle 113 of those reforms that deals with municipal
asset management. Local authorities are partnering with Comparex
Africa to change their asset management from a fund to a cash-based
asset register, ensuring that procurement of assets only occurs
when there is cash available. According to Principal Consultant
for Comparex Africa's Local and Regional Authorities Division,
Andries Fourie, all municipal council sites will be switching
over to GAMAP as part of a financial accountability drive
to ensure all budgets are cash-based. "Driven by the
new Act, there are big changes to financial systems now compared
to the past. All transactions must show that there is money
available before purchases or payments are made and budget
reforms will ensure that debits and credits must always balance."

Fourie said the new financial software
has already undergone a lengthy two-year pilot phase at Emfuleni
local municipality to ensure its robustness and efficiency
and is ready to be rolled out to four other municipalities
on 1 July 2003 including Mbombela local municipality, Ehlanzeni
district municipality (Nelspruit), Metsimaholo local municipality
(Sasolburg) and Klerksdorp local municipality. He emphasised
that Comparex Africa's Venus Financial Solution has been used
by South African local and regional authority institutions
since 1989, highlighting Comparex's lengthy experience with
government ICT solutions and key skill-sets. Fourie, a former
assistant town treasurer with extensive local government experience,
stressed the importance of financial solution experience to
ensure a smooth transition to GAMAP. "All Comparex Africa's
support team who are working with the municipalities in implementing
the new financial solution, used to work for local government
and have a close understanding of both existing processes
and the new enhanced financial solution based on GAMAP. In
addition, our financial software is a totally home-grown product,
fully developed in SA according to local conditions. Over
the past year the solution has been further enhanced to embrace
technology such as using the World Wide Web and running from
a browser environment. With the integration of workflow the
solution is now process-driven rather than function-driven.

Superior integration with other products
such as GIS solutions will position the product as the first
locally available local government ERP solution." Comparex
Africa is the leading integrator of ICT-based business solutions
that make its clients more successful. Based on a strong customer-centric
approach, Comparex Africa delivers technology-business solutions
from the full range of competencies within its group that
align its clients' strategic and operational business needs.
Comparex Africa's client-centric structure stems from its
Systems Integration Model, a methodology that allows for flexibility
and close client relationships. Offering business solutions
that address all areas of its clients business, Comparex Africa
services organisations within the corporate and large enterprise,
government and parastatal markets as well as within the medium
enterprise sector in all vertical markets. As an organisation
with its roots firmly embedded in Africa, Comparex Africa
reflects a cultural diversity, relying on the unique contribution
of each of its skilled employees to succeed. Transformation
is an overriding business imperative for Comparex Africa and
as such it has dedicated resources from across the organisation
to drive employment equity, economic empowerment and social
investment programmes.

From ITWeb, South Africa, 17 April 2003

Bad Government Policies
Cripple OPS - OCCIMA

The Onitsha Chamber of Commerce, Industry,
Mines and Agriculture (OCCIMA) has decried the challenges
and obstacles that are being faced by the organised private
sector (OPS) from injurious government legislations and policies.
The president of OCCIMA, Rob Eze who made this remark during
the inauguration of a 35-member Trade Fair Committee for this
year's Onitsha Made-in-Nigeria trade fair, at the chambers
secretariat, Onitsha, said some of these policies which include
tax regulation, high taxes, multiple levies, restricted access
to credit facilities, corruption among government officials
and lack of strong will to improve and provide the necessary
infrastructural facilities, militate against OPS development
in the country. Eze added that instead of the governments
providing lifeline and the needed capacity-building support
to the OPS for a better role in the economy, "they stifle
the sector through negative policies and programmes that keep
the economy paralysed."

He said the choice of the theme of
the 12th Made-In-Nigeria Trade Fair, Encouraging effective
organised private sector participation in sustainable National
Economic Recovery through favourable economic policy, was
informed by the urgent need to adequately empower the OPS
to play leading roles as the engine of growth and industrial
development in the nation through favourable legislation and
dynamic economic policies. Calling on the government to repeal
all the existing anti-OPS legislations and replace them with
favourable ones, Eze stated that OPS needed to be taken into
confidence when packaging economic blueprint for either state
or the federation. Eze also disclosed that the fundamental
vision of this year's fair was to expose the vast human, material,
industrial and agricultural potentials of Anambra State and
indeed the entire nation to foreign investors as well as encourage
maximum exploitation by the OPS. He however maintained that
the chamber being aware of the challenges it faces to make
the fair succeed, had nominated its first Deputy President,
Okey Akaneme to head the 35-member organising committee.

From Daily Times of Nigeria, by Peter Eziolisa,
17 April 2003

Regional Disparities Bypass Public
Sector Pay

Prefectural jobs pay nearly the same
nationwide. It's a different story in the private sector.
Prefectural officials, whose wages are nearly uniform nationwide,
remain untouched by the wide regional discrepancies in wages
faced by their private sector counterparts, the Finance Ministry
says. The prefectural governments all gave their officials
a pay cut in fiscal 2002, in step with a central government
salary cut. But the ministry said in its latest survey they
still may be paid too much, compared with the plummeting wages
in the private sector. The ministry's survey was based on
salaries of prefectural officials before the fiscal 2002 pay
cut. The salary level of each prefecture was calculated in
relation to an index of 100, representing the level of central
government officials' salaries. The ministry then used fiscal
2002 statistics gathered by the Ministry of Health, Labor
and Welfare to calculate private sector salaries by prefecture
against an index of 100, which represented the national private
sector average. The salary levels at many of the prefectural
governments exceeded 100, reflecting the fact their officials
are older on average than those in the central government.

But margin by which they differed is
slimmer than the one in the private sector. All the prefectures'
indexes were within a 25-point band, from 97 for Tottori Prefecture
to 122 for Kanagawa Prefecture. The prefectures were spread
over a 43-point range in the private sector, from 74 in Okinawa
Prefecture to 117 in Tokyo. The prefectures' own annual surveys,
however, tell a somewhat different story. Most of the prefectures
estimated small discrepancies between the salaries of their
officials and those of private sector employees in their respective
jurisdictions. The former were usually about 2 percent better
paid than the latter. The prefectures' personnel commissions
use this data to arrive at recommendations for changes to
officials' salary. The prefectural statistics, however, are
often criticized for comparing public salaries with only those
of white-collar workers at relatively large companies and
organizations. Critics also say the surveys fail to make clear
comparisons by educational background, type of job, salary
range and other indicators.

Even central government ministries
have taken issue with the prefectures' methodology. An official
at the Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts
and Telecommunications said some of the indicators "may
not have been calculated properly." At the Finance Ministry,
an official said, "Local government officials are still
enjoying high wages at a time when private firms are in a
tougher situation." Amid the dire financial straits of
the prefectural governments, calls are expected to mount for
a review of local officials' salaries. An official at Jichiro
(The All Japan Prefectural and Municipal Workers' Union),
which represents local government employees, said: "There
should be a nationwide salary standard for local government
officials because they are doing similar jobs. Even when the
salary level of the private sector is to be considered, the
yardstick for comparison should be limited to similar, white-collar
jobs, not all types of job."

From Asahi Shimbun, Japan, 10 April 2003

Index Plan May Offer
Aid in Tracking Transparency

On the orders of President Roh Moo-hyun,
the Fair Trade Commission plans to design indexes that gauge
management transparency and business fairness, and to present
these target indexes to companies. The antitrust agency reported
the pending problems and the related plans to the Blue House
yesterday. In a meeting about the report, Mr. Roh ordered
the agency to develop the indexes. Mr. Roh also directed the
agency to make its own operations transparent, saying, The
Fair Trade Commission should let the progress of the investigation
into the cross-affiliate transactions by the largest business
groups this year be predictable. Meanwhile, the Fair Trade
Commission reported to Mr. Roh that it will intensify a watch
on the governance of privatized state-run companies and jaebeol
financial units. The agency also said it planned to lead the
business groups, in which the governance structures were complicated,
to convert to the simple structure of a holding company and
its subsidiaries, through providing tax benefits.

The antitrust watchdog will organize
a task force to examine whether to put companies with a low
debt-to-equity ratio into the target of the restrictions on
investment by large conglomerates in its affiliates and other
firms. Currently, the regulation excludes companies with a
debt- to-equity ratio lower than 100 percent. Kang Chul-kyu,
the chairman of the Fair Trade Commission, said last month
that the agency would restrict the investment by even those
firms but the Ministry of Finance and Economy opposed. The
Financial Supervisory Commission also reported the outstanding
issues and the related plans to Mr. Roh yesterday. The financial
watchdog said it would promote introducing a system that would
regularly examine the qualifications of the largest shareholders
in financial service companies, in order to prevent the industrial
capital from controlling the financial sector. The agency
also plans to examine adopting a system that will check the
qualifications of the new largest shareholders in financial
service companies whenever the largest shareholders are replaced.

The Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan
has received a grant from the International Bank for Reconstruction
and Development, as administrator for grant funds provided
by the Government of Japan, in the amount of $500,000 equivalent
toward the cost of the IT System Modernization Component of
the Public Finance Management Reform Project. The objective
of the Government under IT System Modernization Component
of the project is to develop a computerized budget, accounting
and cash management system by (i) elaborating a blueprint
and modernization plan for the activities described above
and (ii) specifying the functional and IT architectural design
of the future system. All the preparatory work should produce
appropriate, state of the art terms of reference, for the
IT project implementation. The activities under the preparation
of the IT System Modernization Component of the project will
be implemented in close cooperation and interdependence with
activities to be carried out under Public Finance Institutional
Reform Component of the project which will be financed from
PPF proceeds. The Government now invites eligible consultants
to indicate their interest in providing the services.

Interested consultants must provide
information indicating that they are qualified to perform
the services (brochures, description of similar assignments,
experience in similar conditions, availability of appropriate
skills among staff, etc.). Consultants may associate to enhance
their qualifications. The consulting firm will be selected
in accordance with the procedures set out in the World Bank's
Guidelines: Selection and Employment of Consultants by World
Bank Borrowers, January 1997 (revised September 1997, January
1999, and April 2002). The consulting firm selected for project
preparation will not be eligible to bid for contracts in the
implementation phase of this project. Expressions of interest
must be delivered to the address below till May 15, 2003.
Interested consultants may obtain further information from
the same address. Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Uzbekistan,
Attn: Mr. Kuchkarov, Deputy Minister, 5 Mustakillik Sq., Tashkent
700008, Republic of Uzbekistan, Tel: (998-71) 139-4238, Fax:
(998-71) 139-4205, E-mail: fsuvankulov@mf.uz.

From Transitions Online, 23 April 2003

Emissions Tax Will
Hurt Competitiveness

The Government ratified the Kyoto Protocol
in December 2002. Climate change policy is now developing
rapidly and alarm bells are ringing. Policy outlined to date
applies up to the end of the first commitment period - 2012.
No progress has been made in international forums on the US
and Australia joining the protocol and how developing countries
will take on obligations for the second commitment period.
So New Zealand's longer-term obligations are not at all clear.
Some of the technologies needed to reduce emissions to a meaningful
extent will take 20-plus years to develop. Climate change
policy should recognise this and not rely on such a blunt
instrument as an emissions tax. The Government will introduce
an emissions tax in 2007. Some of our trading partners have
climate change policies similar to New Zealand's, but not
one of our partners in the Asia, Pacific or Southern Hemisphere
region has, or is planning, an explicit emissions tax. New
Zealand's economy is energy intensive, second only to Canada
in the OECD. Simple logic, supported by economic analysis,
confirms that imposing an emissions tax in the absence of
a similar impost by our trading partners will harm the economy.

Many NZ firms, particularly those competing
internationally, will be unable to pass on the tax. Such firms
will tend to shift production overseas; investment will be
discouraged, output will fall, closures occur and jobs be
lost for no benefit to the environment. The Government has
recognised this threat by providing for Negotiated Greenhouse
Agreements (NGAs). These will provide relief from some or
all of the tax in exchange for a binding commitment to achieve
energy efficiency and emissions management targets based on
a measure of world best practice. NGAs are not a cheap option
- negotiating one will be a major commitment in itself, perhaps
beyond the resources of all but the larger companies. Most
energy-intensive firms have long-lasting assets. An NGA provides
these firms with the certainty to invest, build assets and
shift the business to a lower carbon economy over a time frame
that reflects the technology options available to the firm.
So, if NZ has to have an emissions tax, equally it has to
have a means to shelter firms from the loss of inter-national
competitiveness. NGAs also encourage firms to invest in energy
efficiency and emissions management, an outcome that both
Government and industry support.

Unfortunately, the Government has imposed
significant hurdles to NGAs. These mean that a large number
of medium to smaller firms will find it difficult to gain
access to an NGA. It is hoped that some of these firms may
be able to form bubbles that can negotiate an NGA as a single
entity on behalf of the participants. Also, industry is encouraging
the Government to develop second-tier policy mechanisms that
may give smaller firms some relief, and encouragement to manage
emissions. The Government is under pressure to maintain flexible
policies for these firms so agreements are accessible, investment
is encouraged and the economy can grow. The Government is
also under pressure to ensure that adequate resources are
available to negotiate the NGAs industry requires. The simple
message here is: more agreements will result in better emissions
management and less damage to the economy. (Chris Baker is
chairman of the Greenhouse Policy Coalition).

From New Zealand Herald, New Zealand, by
Chris Baker, 28 April 2003

Yugoslavia: Public Procurement Law
for Increasing Public Savings

Belgrade - Serbian Minister of Finance
and Economy Bozidar Djelic said Thursday that the Law on public
procurements, which came into effect in mid-2002, has contributed
to increased state savings in public procurements, curbing
corruption, improving conditions for local and foreign suppliers,
and bolstering competition. Addressing a symposium entitled
"Public Procurement in Serbia - Results and Further Steps,"
organised by the Serbian Ministry of Finance and Economy and
the Public Procurement Office, in cooperation with the US
Agency for International Development (USAID), Djelic said
that that the Law has allowed for substantial savings in public
procurements and a 50 percent drop in purchasing prices. In
the first nine months of the Law's coming into effect, the
state has saved some $70 million, said Djelic, adding that
taxpayer money has been used more efficiently. According to
Djelic, the Law has also allowed for a more efficient fight
against corruption, eliminating all "quasi-mediators".
In the past, of the country's total annual public procurements,
ranging between 60 million and 80 million dinars, between
15 million and 20 million dinars, or as much as 25 percent
had been used irrationally. A Commission for protecting suppliers'
rights is to be set up today, said Djelic, adding that it
will handle abuses of public procurements by large demanders
who are usually direct or indirect budgetary users.

From Serbia Info, Yugoslavia, 24 April 2003

Finance Ministry Proposes 2-3-Year
Temporary Public Sector Pay Cut

Ministry of Finance director of wages
Yuval Rachlevsky: Public sector pay cuts will save the treasury
NIS 2 billion a year - The Ministry of Finance proposes to
temporarily cut public sector salaries for two years, until
2005, with an option for a one-year extension if the economic
decline continues, and there is no economic recovery and renewed
growth. The ministry proposes graduated salary cuts from 6.5%
for low-paid employees to 21% for high-paid employees. The
pay cuts would be in item not used to calculate pensions or
current salaries. Senior economic officials in Jerusalem fear
that the struggle between Minister of Finance Benjamin Netanyahu
and Histadrut chairman MK Amir Perez has become too personal,
and the Histadrut (General Federation of Labor in Israel)
might therefore torpedo additional economic measures, and
not just those relating to salaries and jobs. Ministry of
Finance director of wages Yuval Rachlevsky said the measure
was neither radical nor permanently hurt salaries. However,
he confirmed that never in Israel's history, "let alone
during the Histadrut's heyday in the 1980s" had such
pay cuts or temporary legislative measures been taken.

Rachlevsky said the public sector pay
cuts would save the treasury NIS 2 billion a year, and up
to NIS 6 billion in 2004-05. However, other calculations indicate
that an average 8% pay cut would save NIS 470 million a month,
or NIS 5.6 billion gross a year. There are signs of a compromise
over pensions. The Ministry of Finance is prepared to concede
its demand for a 2% annual current management fee for Histadrut
pension plans. According to the ministerial legislative committee
decision, employees would nevertheless have to contribute
toward the Histadrut pensions' recovery, paying a rate of
1% in 2003, and 2% a year from 2004. Minister without portfolio
Meir Sheetrit, who proposed that the public sector pay cut
be for a limited period, announced the economic plan legislation
would not be postponed again, and would be sent to the Knesset
on Monday. Sheetrit has been acting to avoid exacerbating
relations with the Histadrut, in order to continue the negotiations
even after the Knesset passes the bill on its first reading.

The public interest group People for
the American Way has criticized the Bush administration's
tax policy as being written by special interest groups that
are bent on reducing the scope of services provided by the
federal government. The group suggests in a new report that
five major organizations have helped keep the Bush administration's
tax policies high on the domestic agenda, despite ever-worsening
deficit projections, the huge cost of war in Iraq and its
aftermath and warnings about the nation's long-term economic
health. "For those who want to drastically restrict the
federal government's ability to take action on behalf of individuals
and the common good, there is method to the madness of reckless
tax cuts that is particularly troubling at a time of war and
economic uncertainty," said People For the American Way
President Ralph G. Neas. "They see massive deficits as
a way to undermine the federal government's ability to deal
with national priorities like stronger public schools, a cleaner
environment, and better access to health care." The report
identifies the groups that are allegedly influencing Bush's
tax policy. Americans for Tax Reform is described as an inside-the-beltway
operation which excels at building and maintaining political
coalitions among politicians, industry groups and other right-wing
interest groups.

The Heritage Foundation and Cato Institute
are the ideological think tanks, churning out policy papers
and providing the bulk of material support and marketing might
for policymakers. Citizens for a Sound Economy drives the
field operation, channeling corporate money into grassroots
campaigns for specific legislative proposals. Finally, Club
for Growth is the uncompromising political action committee,
enforcing ideological rigor by targeting wavering politicians
when they are most vulnerable, including Republicans deemed
insufficiently committed to anti-tax dogma. "The debate
about tax policy should be broader than just how many billions
or trillions of dollars will be given away to America's millionaires,"
said Neas. "It is important for policy makers and the
American people to understand that behind the push for these
huge tax cuts is an anti-government movement that is eager
to force radical reductions in the social services and legal
protections provided by the federal government to the American
people. The tax plan is part of a broader strategy that includes
packing the federal judiciary with judges who embrace a states'
rights approach to the Constitution in order to restrict the
federal government's legal authority to protect Americans'
rights and address pressing issues. This report sheds some
light on the key players in this movement and their strategies."

From Republicons, 29 March 2003

Lawmakers Attempt To
Revise Campaign Finance Law

Denver - Bill Allows Politicians To
Set Up Special Contribution Accounts - A constitutional amendment
reforming campaign finance would be adjusted to allow politicians
to set up special contribution accounts under a bill narrowly
approved Thursday by the House. Critics said the measure essentially
would dismantle Amendment 27 because it would allow political
officeholders to skirt spending caps and to pepper voters
with unlimited campaign messages. They also said it would
allow anonymous attack pamphlets to be used because it would
broadly define newspapers as exempt from the amendment. Bill
sponsor Rep. Rob Fairbank, R-Littleton, said the bill is intended
to implement the amendment, not circumvent it. The House passed
House Bill 1132 on a 33-31 vote. It faces a third reading
before going to the Senate. Amendment 27, approved by voters
in November, banned direct corporate contributions and established
limits on contributions from political action committees to
candidates and parties. It also requires disclosure of money
to fund education committees, and set $200 contribution limits
to legislative candidates, $500 contribution limits to statewide
candidates including the governor and spending limits of $65,000
for state House candidate and $90,000 spending limits for
the state Senate and $2.5 million for governor. Fairbank said
the amendment does not define newspapers and can be interpreted
to bar Internet users from publishing statements about candidates.
He said it also may require computer users who spend more
than $1,000 on a newsletter just naming a candidate to file
financial disclosures. Rex Wilmouth, state director for the
Colorado Public Interest Research Group that sponsored the
amendment, said the amendment is working as designed. "I
think this is an attempt to derail Amendment 27. If they want
to do that, they should challenge it in the courts,"
Wilmouth said.

Lagos -National Union of Electricity
Employees (NUEE) has alleged that government's rush to privatise
the National Power Authority (NEPA) is a ploy to cover-up
the fraud and loot perpetrated by top government officials
and challenged all the presidential candidates to the forthcoming
general election to tell Nigerians what they want to do with
NEPA as well as provide stable power supply to Nigerians.
NUEE warned that besides protecting the interest of its members,
as civil society group interested in the well being of all
Nigerians, the union would mobilise all patriotic Nigerians
against any pro-Privatisation leader as the programme is anti-people
imposed on Nigeria by the Bretton Wood Institutions. A statement
by the union's Deputy General Secretary, Comrade O. A. Sobowale
lamented that the present Obasanjo led government started
well but later derailed under influences from lender nations
and their local collaborators. The statement said: "When
the President Olusegun Obasanjo administration took the saddle
of leadership it moved in this direction but a few months
later, it capitulated in the opposite direction-towards privatisation.
Why was this so? What happened? There are three fundamental
reasons we can offer to explain this. First, the administration
pandered to the external pressures of lending agencies that
are increasingly pushing for privatisation throughout the
Third world. Second, the administration lacked the political
will to deal with the monumental corruption that had taken
place in NEPA, neither did it have the courage to bring the
culprits to book. Enormous unaccounted amounts were stolen
from NEPA, and nothing is being said about this either by
the President or the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE).

Thirdly, and not the least, the government
has never put in place a Board with unimpeachable integrity,
patriotism and dedication to duty, such that will be able
to tackle the problems of NEPA. Without fear of thoughtful
contradiction, the Technical Board put in place by the present
administration became not only part of the problem, but the
biggest problem of NEPA. The other problems include, poor
maintenance and turn around culture, obsolete equipment, poor
tariff collection from clientele which include the Presidency,
the Army and the Police, and illegal vandalisation of NEPA
equipment. That has been the history of NEPA And we challenge
any decent administration to ask the books to be opened, Nigerians
will be shocked, because they will discover the truth. The
attempt to rush to privatise NEPA is meant to cover-up the
fraud and loot of some sacred cows." "The Government,
through the BPE, and with orchestrated indignation, has been
wasting taxpayers' money on ill-informed blackmail and propaganda
in the media directed against NEPA on the so-called issue
of non-performance. The key problem of NEPA is what is euphemistically
referred to as public sector corruption. Even the Presidency
and National Assembly suffer from it., numerous scandals reported
in the media daily, will suffice in this regard. The goal
should be how to rid the public sector of corruption and not
how to privatise all its strategic components. This should
be the cardinal objective of the new Board of NEPA and not
how to prepare NEPA for privatiation".

According to him, "our immediate
reason for this statement is to put all the twenty (20) Presidential
candidates on alert and to urge them to publicly state their
position on the privatisation of public enterprises and in
particular their position on NEPA. Our perusal of the manifestoes
of the political parties available to us does not suggest
that any of them is willing to pursue privatisation of NEPA,
this is not to say that they will not encourage private sector
growth. We do however know that, in the Nigerian context,
there is party manifesto and there is personal manifesto,
many elected politicians do not follow the programmes outlined
by their political parties." "We want to know what
the personal political manifesto of each Presidential candidate
is, beyond what was said during the Presidential debate. This
becomes crucial for two reasons. First, as an interest group
and a trade union, and above all as part of the electorate,
we are interested in what concern our members and what concern
or touch the interest of other citizens of Nigeria. This is
quite legitimate and consistent with the principles of democracy.
Second, beyond our franchise, we are going to embark on full-scale
mobilisation for or against any leader who is pro-privatisation,
this is because the programme is anti-people. This is not
misplaced sentiment or undue patriotism.

Most certainly, the privatisation of
NEPA is an anti-poor people policy. Experiences of Third world
countries, particularly in the energy sector, in Cote D'Voire,
Pakistan, South Africa, New Zealand and South Korea have proven
this." The union added: "It is for the foregoing
reasons that we urge all the Presidential candidates of all
the 20 political parties in contention, including the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP), All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP),
Democratic Alternative (DA), National Conscience Party (NCP),
and United Nigeria Peoples Party (UNPP), among many others
to make a disclaim to this statement or specifically tell
us where they stand or what they intend to do about NEPA genuinely
salvage it or criminally auction it.?" "The implication
of not responding to this statement, inadvertently knocks
out the moral basis of the pursuit of the privatisation of
NEPA by any victorious aspirant, post-election. But, should
this happen, our Union is well-advised about what to do."

From AllAfrica.com, Africa, 8 April 2003

World Bank Project "Privatization
of Farms" Completed

Baku - The project "Privatization
of Farms", funded by the World Bank in Azerbaijan, completed,
according to the Agency on Development of Private Sector in
Agriculture, Trend reported today. The project has been implemented
since 1997 in the different regions. For this time, 6.645
thousand families received the certificates, affirming their
ownership for land sectors, 4.036 thousand farms raised loans
for 32.6 billion manat. The Association of Water Consumers,
uniting over 6.5 thousand land-owners and serving 11.9 thousand
hectare area, was established to resolve the problems with
water supplies. For the period of the project, the harvest
of grains rose from 13 up to 35 centners per 1 hectare, vegetable-growing
- 156 up to 362 centners per 1 hectare.

From Baku Today, Azerbaijan, 11 April 2003

India Pulls Airlines
From Privatization

New Delhi - India's Cabinet on Tuesday
withdrew two national airlines from the list of 35 companies
being offered for sale, saying they would be modernized to
face competition. Civil Aviation Minister Shahnawaz Hussain
said Air India and Indian Airlines were not attracting satisfactory
bids, especially as the international airline industry is
slumping. "No major airline or aviation company is at
present willing or in a position to invest," Hussain
was quoted as saying by Press Trust of India. The decision
was made at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Disinvestment
headed by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Both carriers
have listed ambitious growth plans. The Indian Airlines management
has recommended the purchase of 43 Airbus aircraft between
now and 2008 at a cost of 101 billion rupees ($2.1 billion).
Air India has said it will acquire 17 long haul aircraft costing
more than 130 billion rupees ($2.7 billion). But some analysts
fear that the decision will send the wrong signal to investors,
particularly after a delay last year in the planned sale of
two major profit-making state oil companies.

From Seattle Post Intelligencer, WA, 15
April 2003

Camacho Aims to Let
Employees Compete in Privatization

Gov. Felix Camacho proposed a bill
yesterday that would allow government of Guam employees to
compete for privatization contracts. The bill, which Camacho
sent to the Guam Legislature, seeks to repeal sections of
a public law that governs the reorganization of GovGuam. The
measure includes revisiting a section that makes it unethical
for a GovGuam employee to participate directly with the procurement
process. If the reorganization law is repealed, GovGuam employees
would be able to compete for privatization contracts, according
to a release from the governor's office. "These employees
may be the most qualified individuals to provide services
under the bidding process," Camacho said in a letter
to Speaker Ben Pangelinan, D-Barrigada. The bill also would
repeal sections pertaining to the public hearing requirement
on reorganization. The release said current law makes it difficult
for the administration to complete reorganization before the
start of fiscal 2004, which begins Oct. 1. The law also makes
it difficult to "right-size" the government because
classified employees can't be removed while the plan is being
implemented, the release said. "They are prohibitive
of efforts to privatize, outsource and reorganize," Camacho
said. The measure also seeks authorization to transfer funds
to pay for cuts associated with outsourcing government services.

From Agana Pacific Daily News, GU, by Theresa
Merto, 15 April 2003

A Retreat in Privatization
Battle

Privatization encourages competition,
which in turn ensures that higher-quality goods and services
are provided at lower costs. Another benefit is that it also
helps spread share ownership widely among the population.
Therefore, privatization appealed to the previous Kim Dae-jung
administration, which sought to enhance efficiency and reduce
waste in corporate management, in both the private and public
sector, after the 1997-98 financial crisis. It selected 12
government-controlled businesses for privatization and sold
off eight, including telecommunication services. Now four
monopoly utilities - rail, electricity, gas and residential
heating - wait to be digested. But the government is misguided
for backpedaling on privatization since President Roh Moo-hyun's
February inauguration. The government retreated dramatically
when it decided to withdraw its plan to sell off rail operations
to private business concerns earlier this week. During a face-off
with the labor union of the Korea National Railroad, it agreed
to seek an alternative to privatization and build a social
consensus before launching a new cost-cutting program. Putting
on a bold face, however, the government maintained that it
was an accomplishment to settle a labor dispute through dialogue
and compromise, thus forestalling enormous losses that a strike
can inflict. Few would debate the government's claim that
dispute settlement has prevented the transportation of passengers
and goods - when the economy is slumping - from becoming painfully
disrupted.

However, the government has paid a
high price, severely damaging its own credibility in the eyes
of both domestic and foreign investors. In a public statement
issued after a cabinet meeting last week, the government said
it would be illegal for the union to strike to protest the
privatization plan. It threatened to prosecute union leaders
and demand compensation for torts if they held a strike illegally.
The administration said that it would continue to own, maintain
and repair railroad facilities and establish a state enterprise
to restructure their operations, instead of privatizing them
immediately. This "phased privatization" would prevent
sudden job losses that an immediate change in ownership would
cause. But before the ink dried on its statement, the government
had to abandon this moderate plan when it gave in to the union's
demands and agreed to seek an alternative. Now the government
has no one else to blame if its determination to privatize
other monopoly utilities is questioned. Privatization is suggested
to plug the holes in the KNR's management. It has been losing
600 billion won to 700 billion won annually. If nothing is
done to improve its leadership, the accumulated loss, it is
estimated, could top 50 trillion won in 2020. Alarmed by this
depressing prospect, the government managed to extract a major
concession from the union last year - an agreement for joint
efforts to promote privatization and attain reduced costs.
In return for the concession, the government opted for the
idea of establishing a state-owned corporation as a vehicle
that would smooth the transition to complete private ownership.

It also agreed to a union request that
workers dismissed for unlawful labor activities be reinstated.
Such a compromise looked inevitable. Nevertheless, the change
in policy elicited criticism from a sizable number of management
experts, who called for an immediate sell-off. They said there
was no reason to delay a plan to restructure the hemorrhaging
rail business. Nothing has since changed to justify a decision
to cancel privatization. Instead, the government will have
the same problem of making up for huge losses with taxpayers'
money in the years ahead as it did in the past. And no viable
alternative to privatization has been found in making railways
cut costs now and earn profits later in competition against
buses, trucks and jetliners. It is most unfortunate that the
incumbent administration is not as resolute in privatizing
state enterprises as its predecessor. This fact raises the
suspicion that it regards privatization as more harmful than
beneficial because it can concentrate economic power in the
hands of a select few and raise utilities charges. Such a
suspicion is warranted by remarks made by a leading member
of the presidential transition team, who voiced concerns about
the prospect of monopoly utilities being controlled by private
businesses shortly before Roh took office. A final confirmation
will come when the administration submits a bill on the restructuring
of the Korea National Railroad by June as it promised.

From Korea Herald, Korea, 23 April 2003

Privatization Minister Regrets the
B92 Delay

Belgrade - Serbian Economy and Privatization
Minister Aleksandar Vlahovic has today expressed regrets over
the stalling of B92's public capital privatization, offering
an explanation. Speaking at a press conference, Vlahovic explained
that 20 days prior to the planned auction, which had already
been subject to postponement, a request had been made for
the declaring of criminal charges over the earlier merger
of private and public companies KVS and B92. The minister
maintained that the privatization agency acted in accordance
with existing articles of legislation by postponing the auction,
officially due to technical reasons, and issuing letters to
the prosecutor's office of the republic, district and municipality
in an effort to ascertain whether or not the matter was being
investigated. Vlahovic has yet to receive a response from
the prosecutors' and said: "If there's not [an investigation]
the auction will be scheduled and there are no problems. If
there is, the agency believes that the solution to this problem
should not be predetermined, nor should an eventual dispute
be raised over the fact that the agency is selling a minority
part of the capital. "If it is established that should
problems exist then the question will be whether the agency
will be selling the minority capital at all and whether this
kind of privatization would be good for this television company".
Noting that B92 yesterday expressed hope that the auction
would be scheduled in the shortest possible time, Vlahovic
insisted: " We don't want any problems arising from this.
I personally hope that there aren't any problems here. "The
agency is expecting to receive a reply from the prosecution
that will clear the way for further unhindered privatization."

From B92, Yugoslavia, 24 April 2003

Saudia Privatization to Bring In
Huge Revenues

Jeddah - Privatization of Saudi Arabian
Airlines will bring huge revenues to the company, according
to Prince Fahd ibn Abdullah, assistant minister of defense
and aviation for civil aviation affairs. "Studies on
the privatization program will be completed shortly to consider
partial privatization of the airline," the prince told
Okaz Arabic daily. "It will have a positive effect on
the airline's sales and improve its performance, and these
will have a very good impact," he added. Saudia is the
largest airline in the Middle East with a fleet of 117 aircraft.
Prince Fahd also disclosed that work on the $1.5 billion expansion
of King Abdul Aziz International Airport in Jeddah is to start
soon. The project will be carried out in several phases without
affecting the airport's normal operation. Engineering work
on the project has already started, the prince said, but did
not mention the project's total cost. The expansion will increase
the airport's capacity from 13 million to 21 million passengers
a year. He said Saudia's monopoly in the domestic sector would
continue until private airline companies are established in
the Kingdom. "At present it will be the only airline
to provide domestic service. In future, other national airlines
could be set up," he said. Asked about the prospect of
reducing domestic fares, Prince Fahd said Saudia ticket rates
were already over-discounted. "Indian Airlines domestic
fares are higher than those of Saudi Arabian Airlines,"
he said.

Saudia charges SR280 for the one-and-a-half
hour flight from Jeddah to Riyadh while Indian Airlines charges
SR380 for a flight of the same duration from Bombay to Calicut,
already taking into account a special 35 percent discount.
He said the presidency would continue its efforts to increase
passenger and airline traffic to and from King Fahd International
Airport in Dammam. "King Fahd airport is closer to Dammam,
Qateef and Jubail than Manama airport," he pointed out.
Prince Fahd hoped that operation of more direct flights would
help King Fahd airport attract more passengers in future.
"We should have the ability to handle those flights on
the basis of a marketing strategy, and this could be possible
after privatization and reorganization of the presidency."
Prince Fahd said efforts were under way to expand airports
in the northern cities of Jouf, Arar and Gurayyat. However,
he dismissed prospects of establishing new airports at present.
He said studies on transforming the Presidency of Civil Aviation
into a general organization were completed. "This transformation
will give the organization the necessary flexibility to carry
out privatization, ensure private sector participation and
expedite infrastructure projects," he added. The aviation
chief highlighted the significance of the recently opened
Prince Salman Airport in Dawadmi, located about 250 km west
of Riyadh. "The presence of another airport in the central
region is significant for aviation security since it could
be used during an emergency," he explained.

From Arab News, Saudi Arabia, by P.K. Abdul
Ghafour, 14 April 2003

MP: Privatization Encourages
Growth of Cooperatives

Tehran - The Majlis deputy from Orumiyeh,
Shahrbanou Amani Zangeneh, here Monday lauded the national
drive for privatization, saying it would give the cooperative
sector a greater and expanded role in the country's economy.
Speaking to IRNA, she said the activities of cooperatives
help in balancing the economy because of the underlying principle
with which they operate which puts a premium on cooperative
efforts. According to articles 43 and 44 of the Iranian Constitution,
the economy is split into three sectors - governmental, private
and cooperative sectors, she pointed out. "The apparent
lack of a culture of cooperation in the country is regarded
as an important obstacle in meeting our objectives,"
she lamented. "The expansion of the cooperative sector
in the country will help prevent the rise of monopolies,"
she further said. She pointed out that in most advanced countries
cooperatives are a vital part of their economies. By creating
a culture of cooperation, a lot of capital and ideas can be
tapped for the good of society, she said. The government can
financially or systematically assist cooperatives to grow
and create more job opportunities, she concluded.

From IRNA, Iran, 28 April 2003

Personnel Privatization Still Concerns
Some Senators

Some state senators raised concerns
today about privatization of the state personnel system. But
officials of the Department of Management Services assured
them that Convergys Corp. has everything under control. The
actual "outsourcing" of more than 500 state jobs
is supposed to start on May 1and the phase-in will be completed
by New Year's Day. Sens. Tom Lee, R-Brandon, and Ron Klein,
D-Delray Beach, raised questions at a meeting of the Senate
Appropriations Committee about the seven-year, $278 million
Convergys contract. Both men said they are concerned that,
if the new system isn't cheaper and better than the current
method of each agency having its own personnel office, the
state will have nothing to fall back upon. "When a contractor
fails and you've dismantled your apparatus, you're stuck,"
Klein said. Simone Marstiller, the interim DMS secretary,
assured the committee that Convergys is making rapid progress
toward converting state personnel systems to its private computer
banks. She said employee personnel records will be scanned
into an on-line system and the benefits enrollment files will
be ready for the new insurance sign-up period in the fall.
Marstiller said Convergys will begin hiring employees, including
some current state-employed personnel technicians, on May
1. Read more about this in Bill Cotterell's story in tomorrow's
Tallahassee Democrat or go to www.tallahassee.com.